Will You Listen To My Song?
by CassiusBrutus
Summary: Minato's story takes a different path. One with different friends and a different ending. Trying to stay in character for my story, so feel free to call me on OOC.
1. A Chance Encounter

**A/N: Okay, so here is my first actual fic. I don't really count my Dungeons and Dragons story as a fic, so like a said, this is a first and I hope I don't botch it. Well, I guess all I can say is thank you for reading, please let me know what you think. I would love to hear any opinions on the story.**

Chapter 1: A Chance Encounter

Minato stood in front of the Tokyo University acceptance board and scanned up and down for his number. After realizing that it wasn't there, he sighed in regret. He had failed the entrance exam for the second time. He turned and walked away, pulling out his phone to call his mom and tell her the news.

"Sorry Mom, I didn't get in again."

From the other side of the line, his mother answered, "Oh no. What are you going to do? Do you want to come home?"

"Give me some time to think about it. I'll call you back later." With that, Minato hung up and boarded a train heading back in the direction of his apartment. He returned home and went to bed, trying to forget this horrible day.

The next day, he decided to take a break from studying and take a walk around town and think. The streets were crowded and Minato had wade through people in order to get anywhere. Breathing in the crisp air to clear his head, Minato glanced around. Something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Someone was seated on the ground against a building, their knees tucked under their chin. Minato stopped where he was. He noticed that no one paid any attention to this person, and that made him a little sad. He walked up to the person and crouched in front of them.

"Are you okay?" They lifted their head, and Minato's breath caught when he realized that it was a young, extremely pretty girl. She had messy chin length blonde hair, and beautiful blue eyes. She looked up into his eyes with a questioning look.

"Me?" She asked. Minato smiled at her nervously.

"Y-yes you. Are you okay?"

She shivered a little before murmuring, "I'm fine, don't concern yourself with me." Minato stood and she looked back down, assuming that he was going to leave now. She shivered again. Instead, Minato remove his blue jacket and draped it onto her shoulders. She looked back up at him, alarmed. Minato turned his head and looked away, a blush on his face.

"You'll catch a cold if you sit outside like that." The girl pulled the jacket more securely around her and nuzzled in the warmth. They stayed like that for several moments, until Minato heard her stomach rumble loudly. Her face immediately flushed a deep red and she looked down. Minato smiled.

"Would you like to go get something to eat?" The girl looked into his face, surprised, before looking away and nodding silently.

Minato and this strange girl sat across from each other in a fast food place and ate a burger each. Minato sat and watched as she ate. She took tiny bites out of her burger and let out little squeaks of pleasure with each bite. _She is really pretty, I wonder why she was just sitting out in the cold like that. _He wondered. When she finished her last bite, she sighed, content, and looked back up into his eyes.

"Thank you very much. You are very kind." Minato's face blushed red and he rubbed that back of his head, chuckling nervously.

"It's not a problem. More importantly, why were you just sitting out in the cold like that?"

"I don't have anywhere to go. I am looking for my ashikabi, but everywhere I go stronger people pick on me. I decided to just wait for someone to find me there." Minato's eyes shot open. He didn't know what an ashikabi was, so he focused his attention on that part he did understand.

"You don't have any place to stay?!" He started to shout, but managed to restrain himself when he remembered that they were in public. The girl nodded glumly and they sat in silence for over a minute. Finally, Minato cleared his throat nervously.

"W-well, if you want to you can stay the night at my place... It's pretty small, but I just thought I would offer since it's supposed to be cold tonight." Her head jerked up and she stared into Minato's face. Her eyes filled with tears, and a grateful smile appeared on her face. She nodded slowly. Minato stood to his feet, but paused when he realized something.

"Ummm, I just realized that we haven't even introduced ourselves. My name is Minato Sahashi, but you can call me Minato, pleased to meet you."

"I am sekirei number 95, Kuno. Thank you very much Minato-san." Minato froze for a second, about to ask what a sekirei was, but decided that it could wait till later. He got up and let Kuno toward his home.

When they arrived, Minato made sure that the Landlord wasn't around and snuck inside his room. He froze and grimaced when he realized what a mess his room was. Kuno didn't seem to mind though, so she sat down on the couch that Minato gestured to and waited while he picked up the room. It was getting dark now, so after he was done cleaning, Minato got out the futon and laid it out on the floor.

"You can sleep here Kuno-san." She looked at him, confused.

"But Minato-san, where will you sleep?"

"It's fine, I'll lay out a blanket and pillow and sleep there. It's not a big deal." And then he did just that. After putting out his blanket on the ground near, but not too near, the futon, Minato laid down on it and got ready to sleep. Kuno took his cue and laid down on the futon as well. Minato turned to Kuno, a smile on his face.

"Good night Kuno-san. I'll see you in the morning." He then rolled over and faced away from her. Kuno stared at his back for several long moments. Gratitude welled up in her, and she felt her body getting hot.

"Thank you so much Minato-san. Good night." He didn't hear her however, as he was already asleep.

The next morning, Minato opened his eyes, feeling warm, which surprised him because it had been fairly cold that night. He felt a warm presence behind him, and his face flushed red when he realized that Kuno had moved over to him at some point in the night and was hugging him from behind. It felt surprisingly comfortable, and Minato didn't move for several minutes. Eventually though, he knew that he had to get up, so he crept out of Kuno's embrace and began preparing breakfast.

The smells of food must have woken her, because when Minato turned around, Kuno was sitting up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and stretching. Minato froze. _S-So cute! _He brought over breakfast and they sat in silence while they ate. After they finished, Minato put the dishes in the sink and sat across from Kuno, questions overflowing from his mind.

"I have some questions if that would be okay. Ah, but first, how did you sleep?" He said with a smile.

"Good. Thank you again." Minato waved off her thanks and got down to what he really wanted to know.

"Kuno-san. What is a sekirei? And an ashikabi? What does it have to do with you?" Kuno sat silent.

Eventually, she answered, "I am a sekirei, one of 108 beings that have been released in the capital. We are all looking for our ashikabi, our special partners." She pressed her hands to her chest before continuing. "All of us sekirei have to compete in the sekirei plan, and the one remaining at the end gets to remain with their ashikabi forever." Minato sat and listened. He blinked several times, disbelieving.

"So... You are looking for your ashikabi... How will you know when you have found them?"

"My body will react. I will know. Thank you again Minato-san, you are so kind. You are the first person who has shown me any kindness." Minato noticed that her cheeks were flushed and her breathing was ragged.

Alarmed he asked, "Are you all right? Is something wrong?" In response, she leaned forward and moved toward him. He fell back, alarmed.

"Minato-san, I feel so hot. Can you please cool me down?" She was now distressingly close, their faces mere inches apart. _W-w-what is happening? What is wrong with Kuno-san?_ With a final jerk, her lips pressed against his, and his eyes flew open. This was his first kiss! Suddenly, there was a flash, and giant wings of light sprouted out of Kuno's back and lit up the entire room. They remained like that, connected for what seemed like hours, but what probably was only a few seconds. Eventually, Kuno pulled back, and their lips finally separated, a thin string of saliva still connecting them. She smiled and put her hands to her heart.

With a bright smile on her face that left Minato breathless, Kuno said, "You are my ashikabi. I pledge to be by your side forever. I am yours." The light died out and the room returned to normal, leaving the pair sitting mere inches from each other. They sat like that, staring into each others eyes until a sound drew Minato's attention. He glanced over to see the television on. That was strange. Minato hadn't turned on the T.V in days. He stood and walked over to turn it off.

As he reached to turn it off, a voice from the T.V called, "Wait! You don't want to do that Minato Sahashi!" Minato yelped and fell backwards, landing on his butt in front of the T.V. On the screen in front of him was a man dressed in all white with wild white hair.

"Who are you? How do you know who I am? What is this about?" The man laughed.

"You don't know who I am? You need to get out more. Don't you watch television? I'm all over it!" A sudden realization hit Minato as to who the man in front of him was.

"Your the Chairman of MBI! Minaka Hiroto!"

"Very good! Now then, I believe congratulations are in order! You are now a participant in The Sekirei Plan! You joined just now when you winged number 95." He nodded at Kuno who was standing just behind Minato. "Now the biggest thing that you need to know is that you cannot tell anyone about the game! If you do, MBI might just have to punish you!" He cackled in a way that made Minato shiver.

"Now then, I must bid you adieu. Good luck!" The television went dark and Minato let out a huge sigh and slumped over.

"I just wanted to pass my entrance exam, maybe get a girlfriend and then live a normal life." He sighed explosively once again. Suddenly, Kuno was hugging him from behind, her chest flat against his back and her head resting on his shoulder.

"Do you regret becoming involved with me? Do you wish that you had nothing to do with me?" Minato could hear the uncertainty clearly in her voice and it struck a chord in him. He turned and face Kuno, resting his hands on her shoulders.

"Of course not! I promise you that I will never regret helping you! I will stay with you for as long as you want to remain with me." His face flushed red as he realized what he was saying. He could see Kuno's eyes fill with tears. She dove forward and hugged her beloved ashikabi tight.

**A/N: And that is the first chapter! I haven't seen any Kuno stories, and I find that so disappointing, because I think Kuno is just freaking adorable. I think she is the cutest (Most realistic looking) in the show. Welp, thanks for reading chapter 1, I hope that you will join me for future chapters. Please review**

**CassiusBrutius out!**


	2. Another Perspective

**A/N: Okay, so I apologize in advance for this chapter. I know that you expected a new chapter, not the same one again, and I struggled with whether or not I wanted to do this for a long time. In the end, I felt that I needed to write this chapter from Kuno's perspective, so that I could show exactly how she felt and that. This will most likely be the only chapter in this story from the first person point of view, so if you don't like it, don't worry. I am also most of the way done with the next chapter, so I will probably have that out in a day or two. Thank you all for reading. So without further adieu, enjoy!**

Chapter 2: Another Perspective

I am sekirei number 95. My name is Kuno. When I was released from MBI, I searched long and hard for my ashikabi, but everywhere I looked, I couldn't seem to find that special person. Everywhere I went, stronger people were picking on me. This was one such occasion.

Two sekirei stood in front of me in matching leather outfits.

"I haven't found my ashikabi yet! Why are you picking on me?!" I yelled, tears filling my eyes.

"That's exactly why. Taking you out now makes it easier for us in the long run." The one in the darker outfit answered. I knew that I had no chance of winning, and probably wouldn't even after I find my ashikabi, so my only option was to flee.

I turned to run, but one of them called out "Oh no you don't! Come on Hibiki!" I tried to run, but I stumbled and tripped over my own feet. As I fell, lightning shot over my head, exactly where I was only a moment before. My clumsiness had saved me for once.

"Dammit! How could we miss?" One of them shouted in frustration. I stood to my feet and saw them link hands again and prepare to fire again. Electricity crackled and sparked. Another bolt of lightning shot and my and I hunched over and screamed in fear. A loud wave is released, creating a shield that blocked the lightning bolt. The shield didn't hold though. I'm not strong enough. The concussion sent me flying and knocked the two others off their feet. Seeing them on the ground as well, I climbed to my feet and stumbled around a corner. I heard shouting around the corner. They were looking for me. I curled up in a ball behind a dumpster in the alleyway, shivering in fear. Waiting to be found. The voices moved closer. They were going to find me. I don't want to die. Tears began to stream down my face as I felt them getting closer.

From the entrance of the alley, I heard, "Dammit! She got away! Where could she be?!"

"Calm down Hikari, she can't have gone far. If we move quick, I'm sure we can find her." I heard their footsteps moving away from where I was hiding. I began to shake and tears continued to stream down my cheeks. Tears of relief, and tears of fear of what is to come.

This type of situation repeated itself several times, and each time, somehow I managed to get away with my life. I never got any closer to finding my ashikabi. Eventually, I gave up. I sat by the side of the road and waited for what would come. Eventually one of them would find me and put and end to this.

I shivered in the cold and watched to feet of those who walked by. No one paid any heed to the girl sitting on the side of the street. They just went on with their business. Eventually though, a pair of feet stopped in front of me.

I heard, "Are you okay?" I was confused. Surely they weren't talking to me. I looked up and saw a man standing in front of me. He had black hair and a handsome face.

"Me?" I asked, sure that it couldn't be. He crouched down in front of me.

"Y-yes you. Are you okay?" He stuttered. I was sure that he couldn't actually be concerned with me. No one else was.

A gust of wind chilled my body, so I shivered before answering, "I'm fine, don't concern yourself with me." He stood back to his feet. So I was right. He really didn't care. I looked back at the ground, shivering again. I jumped a little when something settled on my shoulder. It was a coat. I looked back up to see him standing in a white t-shirt, looking away, his cheeks red.

"You'll catch a cold if you sit outside like that," he told me. I felt the warmth from his body seeping into my back and I unconsciously pulled it a little tighter around myself. I sat in silence until, suddenly, my stomach let out a loud growl. My face flushed deep red and embarrassment rose in me.

"Would you like to go get something to eat?" The man asked. I jerked my head up and saw a kind smile on his face. Why was he being so kind? I looked back at the ground and nodded. I hadn't eaten in days and my hunger overrode my caution.

I followed him to a fast food restaurant and waited while he ordered food for us. My mind raced. What could he want. No one else had shown me any kindness since I had been released, so why was he? He arrived at our table and handed me a burger, and I dug in.

After I finished the last bite, I sighed in relief, my stomach full. I looked up and saw him staring at me, a look of amusement on his face.

My face flushed red, and I managed to stammer out, "Thank you very much. You are very kind." His face turned red as well, and he rubbed the back of his head, chuckling.

"It's not a problem. More importantly, why were you just sitting out in the cold like that?" I drooped my head in embarrassment.

"I don't have anywhere to go. I am looking for my ashikabi, but everywhere I go, stronger people pick on me. I decided to just wait for someone to find me there," I explained. His eyes widened.

"You don't have any place to stay?!" He very nearly shouted. I nodded my head sadly, and waited for this conversation to end. Despite him showing kindness by feeding me, I knew that it wouldn't change anything. So I waited for when I would have to return to the cold. Instead however, I was surprised.

"W-well, if you want to, you can stay the night at my place... It's pretty small, but I just thought I would offer since it's supposed to be cold tonight." My head jerked up, and I stared at him, astounded. Gratitude filling me, my body began to feel warm, hot even, and my eyes misted over. Slowly, I nodded. He stood, but before moving, he paused. I tensed, thinking that he had changed his mind. He chuckled nervously.

"Ummm, I just realized that we haven't even introduced ourselves. My name is Minato Sahashi, but you can call me Minato, pleased to meet you." He smiled warmly. I felt my body grow warmer once again.

"I am sekirei number 95, Kuno. Thank you very much Minato-san." He paused, clearly confused, but in the end, he shook his head and led me out of the restaurant. We walked down the street, and I made sure to stay right behind him as we walked through town and onto a train, lest I lose him. In the end, we ended up outside a small building. Glancing around, clearly looking for something, Minato-san pressed his finger to his lips and gave me a shush sign. Not seeing anything, he led me up the stairs and into the building.

Just inside the door, he froze, and I glanced around him, curious. It was a mess, and he was clearly agitated by this, but I didn't mind. He was still kind enough to give me a place to sleep, so a little mess didn't bother me. He motioned for me to take a seat, so I sat down on his couch, and watched as he hurriedly cleaned up the room. I glanced out the window and saw the sun setting in the sky.

Something must have been wrong. Every time I turned to watch him work, my body began to feel hot. It must have been nothing, so I chose to waive it off as such. Eventually, Minato-san laid down a futon.

"You can sleep here Kuno-san." I was confused. He didn't lay out another, so where was he to sleep?

I asked him, and he answered, "It's fine, I'll lay out a blanket and a pillow and sleep there. It's not a big deal." He did so, and laid down. I followed his lead and prepared for bed as well. He rolled over, and faced me, smiling.

"Good night Kuno-san. I'll see you in the morning." He rolled to face the other way and went to sleep. I laid in bed and stared at his back. Tears of gratitude filled my eyes, but did not fall. My body began to heat up once again. Surely this meant something. I would investigate it in the morning.

"Thank you so much Minato-san. Good night," I whispered. I laid in the dark, not able to sleep for a long time. However, eventually my exhaustion overcame me and I drifted off.

When I woke up, the smell of cooking food was wafting through the air. I found myself on the ground near the futon. Why was I over here? I sat up and stretched the sleep out of my limbs, groaning in pleasure. I looked behind myself and saw Minato-san standing frozen, an enraptured look on his face. Shaking it off, he walked over and handed my a plate of food, which I immediately dug into. After we finished, Minato-san cleaned up and sat in front of me. He asked my how I slept and I told him that I slept well. Then he got down to what he really wanted to know.

"Kuno-san. What is a sekirei? And an ashikabi? What does it have to do with you." No one had ever asked me that before. I sat and tried to formulate and answer. I decided to explain it how it had been told to me.

"I am a sekirei, one of 108 beings that have been released in the capital. We are all looking for our ashikabi, our special partners." As I explained, my body began to feel warm once again. My heart thumped in my chest, and unlike the previous times, it didn't go away. I pressed my hands to my chest in an attempt to calm myself down before continuing. "All of us sekirei have to compete in the sekirei plan, and the one remaining at the end gets to remain with their ashikabi forever. Minato-san looked at me and blinked several times.

"So... You are looking for your ashikabi... How will you know when you have found them?" I understood that he was skeptical.

"My body will react. I will know. Thank you again Minato-san, you are so kind. You are the first person who has shown me any kindness." My body continued to heat up, making it almost unbearable. It got difficult to breath. I couldn't take my eyes off of Minato-san. He looked at me, alarmed.

"Are you all right? Is something wrong?" I didn't answer. I couldn't. Instead, I leaned forward and started to crawl toward him. My body moving on it's own. He fell backwards in alarm and when we were but a few inches apart, words finally came out.

"Minato-san, I feel so hot. Can you please cool me down?" The closer I got, the hotter I felt. I finally knew what was wrong with me. I had found him. My ashikabi. I leaned forward and closed the distance between us, pressing our lips together. From my lips, a whole new kind of heat flooded throughout. Something inside my opened and something flooded through me. Wings of light sprouted from my back and lit up the room. The intense heat in my body vanished, and was replaced by a comfortable warmth that originated from our connected lips. I pulled back and pressed my hands to my heart.

"You are my ashikabi. I pledge to be by your side forever. I am yours." The wings faded, returning the room to the way it was before. The only difference was that now, I was no longer alone. We sat and looked at each other. I was... content. Happy. We both jumped when the television made a noise, and when Minato-san went to turn it off, a familiar face appeared on the screen. Minaka Hiroto, the director of MBI.

He told Minato-san about the sekirei plan, and warned him not to tell anyone about anything involving sekirei. As they talked, I hid behind Minato-san and waited. With a goodbye, the T.V turned off, and Minato-san fell backwards, sighing.

"I just wanted to pass my entrance exam, maybe get a girlfriend and the live a normal life." Worry started to fill me. Did he regret what had happened. Did he not want someone like me around anymore. I gently hugged his back, my arms around his neck and my chin on his shoulder.

"Do you regret becoming involved with me? Do you wish that you had nothing to do with me?" I voiced my concerns and waited, tears starting to fill my eyes. I did my best not to cry, but it was hard. Suddenly, Minato-san turned around and held me at arms length, a very serious look on his face.

"Of course not! I promise you that I will never regret helping you! I will stay with you for as long as you want to remain with me." As he said this, his face turned red. Tears started to stream down my face. Not tears of sadness, but tears of joy. I jumped into his arms and held Minato as tight as I could. I might be weak, but for him, I would become strong. That way, I would never have to let go.

**A/N: Okay so that's the chapter. Like I said, the next chapter is almost done, so you won't have to wait that long to get it. Now onto the thanks. Thank everyone who has favorited, followed and reviewed my story. It means a lot to me that you all enjoy it. I also retract my statement from last chapter. Don Redmond, you are correct, Kusano is the cutest. A special thanks to ShadowUzumaki39, and RaitonJuTsU for your detailed reviews. To be completely honest, I haven't decided who else will be joining Minato, but I will more than likely have most of his canon sekirei, and maybe Akitsu. I probably won't have Uzume be one of his sekirei, but you never know. Thanks again to everyone who gave me such positive reviews, I hope that I don't disappoint in the future. So once again,**

**CassiusBrutus out!**


	3. Eviction

**A/N: Okay, next chapter's up. I hope that everyone likes it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the Sekirei anime or manga, though I wish I did.**

**Just thought I'd give the disclaimer thing a try haha. Enjoy.**

Chapter 3: Eviction

There was a knock at the door and Minato and Kuno jumped apart. They stood and Minato opened the door, hoping with all his heart that it wouldn't be a certain person. He wasn't so lucky. He cracked the door, and through it he saw the little wrinkled old man who was his landlord. The man scowled at him.

"I heard voices! You got someone in there? It better not be a woman!" Panic gripped Minato's heart, but he managed to laugh and force a smile.

"Sorry, that was the T.V. I'm the only one in here." The old man scrutinized his face closely. Slowly, he nodded. The man turned and began to walk down the stairs and Minato sighed in relief. That relief was short lived however.

From behind him he heard, "Minato-san, is something wrong?" The old man froze and Minato could just about see the flames pouring off his body.

"YOU'RE OUTTA HERE! I WANT YOU GONE BY THE END OF THE WEEK!" The man bellowed. Minato could only sigh and nod sadly. The landlord stomped off, leaving Minato standing in his doorway, his head hanging. He closed the door and turned to face Kuno, who was looking at him, confused.

"Kuno-san, we have to find a new place to live." Realization dawned on her.

"Oh no! Is it my fault? Oh, I'm so sorry Minato-san!" Tears started to fill her eyes as she realized that Minato was getting evicted because of her. She hung her head and tears started to flow down her cheeks. Minato almost ran forward and pulled Kuno into and embrace. He held her as she shuddered. He patted her hair, whispering to her.

"It's fine. We'll work it out. I'm sure that we'll find somewhere else to stay. I already told you, I'll stay with you for as long as you want." She looked up into his smiling face and held him closer.

That done, they decided that it would be in their best interest to start looking for a place to stay immediately. So, they left and headed to the nearest real estate office. On the way, Minato decided to finally give his mom a call back. He dialed the number and waited while the phone rang. After about 5 rings, it was picked up.

"Hello?" His mother Takami said.

"Hey Mom, it's me. I decided that I am going to be staying in the capital."

"Oh really? That's good. Is that all?" Minato hesitated.

"Ummm, not quite. You see, I kind of got evicted..." There was silence at the other end of the line.

"I'm sorry then Minato, I'm cutting your allowance in half. You can earn the rest yourself. You can work since you aren't going to college." Minato cringed at the little jab that statement.

"What? Mom, no! Please!" He pleaded.

"I'm sorry Minato. I'm sure that you can handle that much. Goodbye Minato." There was a click and the line went dead. Minato hung his head for the third time that day and sighed. They arrived at the real estate office and went in to look for a new place to stay on their new budget.

The sun was setting and Minato sat on a park bench beside Kuno and sighed. They had been rejected from every real estate office in the city. Kuno leaned on Minato's chest and Minato put his arm around her and held her close.

"It'll be fine. We'll find somewhere to stay." He smiled reassuringly. Because the trains had already stopped running, they had to walk home. While they walked, a gust of cold wind blew by and Kuno shivered. They looked at each other and blushed thinking the same thing. They linked arms at the elbow and walked side by side down the road.

Minato paused as something caught his eye. He looked to the left and saw a building with a sign that said "Maison Izumo – Rooms Available" He almost ran up to the door, dragging Kuno along behind him. When they reached the door, he knocked immediately. The door opened revealing a beautiful woman with long purple hair. She smiled warmly at them.

"Hello, is there something that I can do for you?" Minato blinked in surprise. To be honest, he expected an old lady or something in this old style building. He shook his head, shaking those thoughts out of his mind.

"Hi, my name is Minato Sahashi. We saw that you have rooms available and were wondering if we could rent one of them." She smiled.

"Of course. My late husband had the policy of never turning anyone in need away. You are welcome here."

"Miya, are you sure you want to let them stay here? We don't know anything about them." From behind the woman, Minato could see a handsome silver haired man in a white dress shirt and black slacks.

"Oh Kagari-san, don't worry. My policy is the same as my husband's was." Minato bowed to the woman.

"Thank you so much. We'll have our things here at the end of the week. We'll see you then. Thanks again." He bowed and they left to go back to Minato's apartment, leaving Miya standing at the door, smiling and chuckling. His heart a little lighter, Minato led Kuno home.

Three days later, Minato and Kuno were sitting and eating breakfast when there came a knock at the door. Thinking that it was just the landlord coming to threaten him again, Minato decided to ignore it. There was another knock, more insistent. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice.

"Come on Bro! Open up!" Minato's eyes shot open and he quickly opened the door to reveal his sister, Yukari, standing there, a look of annoyance on her face. She brushed past him and entered the room.

"Jeez bro, what gives. Mom told me you got kicked out of here, so I thought I'd come visit before you left. So, what'd you do?" She froze when she realized there was another presence in the room. Her head slowly turned and looked at Kuno, who was seated on the ground, staring up at her. Her head turned back to Minato.

"Hey bro. Who is this?" She was smiling, but Minato feel danger emanating from her.

"Uhhh. You see... Yukari, this is Kuno. Kuno, this is my sister Yukari." Kuno smiled nervously and Yukari looked at Minato, her smile turning from dangerous to something else. She chuckled.

"Oh ho ho. Is she you girlfriend? Hmmmm?" Minato's face flushed red at the insinuating tone of his sister's voice.

"N-n-n-no! It's nothing like that!"

"Oh? Then what is it about?" Minato almost began talking about the sekirei plan, but the words of Minaka Hiroto came back to him.

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you. Anyway, why are you here in the city anyway?"

"Oh yeah, I meant to tell you. I'm attending university in the city." Minato's chest tightened.

"You got in?" Yukari's face took on a haughty quality.

"Of course! I'm not a failure like a certain brother of mine." Minato cringed. That stung his already weak pride. They chatted for a short while before Yukari stood and told them she had to leave to get settled in her new place. As she stood at the door she turned around as if she had forgotten something.

"Oh, Kuno-san, don't let my idiot brother here do something strange to you!" Before Minato could respond however, she closed the door. He sighed. He seemed to be doing that a lot recently. Spending time with Yukari was always tiring. He sat back down and Kuno looked at him.

"Umm, Minato-san, what did she mean by something strange?" She asked. Minato's face light up.

"N-nothing. Just ignore her," Minato stammered. His sister really was a piece of work.

The rest of the week passed without event, and Minato and Kuno moved into their new home at Maison Izumo. They stood in the dining room speaking with Miya.

"Thank you again Ms. Landlady. We wouldn't have had anywhere else to go." Miya covered her mouth and chuckled.

"It's really fine. Now, we do have a few rules here at Maison Izumo. We do not allow violence, or any illicit activities." She gave Minato and Kuno a suggestive look and the both of them flushed red. Before they could make their denials, they heard a voice behind them.

"Oh, Miya. Are these the new tenants?" Minato turned to see who it was. He saw a beautiful woman with long brown hair and very large breasts standing there. What really caught his attention though, was that she was standing there in nothing but her underwear. Blood spurted out of his nose and he hastily covered it with his hand to staunch the flow. From behind him, Minato could feel a terrifying presence. He turned to see Miya with a dark aura almost pouring off her body.

"Uzume-san. Don't you remember our rules about decency?" Uzume looked down at herself.

"What? I remembered to put on panties didn't I?" Minato could just about see a demon mask appear over Miya's shoulder. Everyone in the room shivered in fear. Uzume backed out of the room slowly.

"Right... Well... I'm just going to... Get dressed..." And she was gone. Minato looked back and Miya who had her cheerful demeanor back.

"That was another of our residents, Uzume-san. I believe that you have already met Kagari-san, so that is it. Dinner will be ready in about an hour, I'll see you then." She nodded and left, leaving Minato and Kuno alone. They smiled at one another.

They spent the next few days getting settled in. Minato picked up a job at a construction company to earn enough money to pay the rent. Every night, Minato and Kuno went to sleep with their futons a couple of feet apart, but Minato noted that every morning, he would wake up with Kuno clinging to him in her sleep. Every morning, he would extricate himself from her, have breakfast and head to work. At work, during his breaks he would have conversations with a coworker by the name of Seo. He was an interesting person, and Minato had a lot of fun chatting with him.

One day, after work, Minato was walking home when he heard a loud explosion. Now, normally he would have run, but after recent events something drove him to see what it was.

He sprinted down the street, and when he turned the corner he heard, "Dammit! Stop moving and let us hit you!" As he rounded the corner, Minato spotted two women wearing leather S&M outfits standing across from another girl in a black dress with matching gloves and stocking with a red ribbon around her neck. Of course her most prominent feature was the giant scythe she was carrying.

"Stop chasing me!" She yelled, "I haven't found my ashikabi yet!" The twin girls ignored her and linked hands. Sparks started to fly. Minato sprinted between them when he saw this.

"Hey! Stop this, it isn't fair. Why are you doing this?!" One of them sneered at him.

"Get out of our way weakling, or we'll have to fry you." Minato hesitated, but held in his spot.

From behind him, Minato heard, "What are you doing?! Get out of the way!" He glanced back, to look at her, and while he was doing that, the twins leaped and dodged around Minato, landing on the other side of the girl. Sparks crackled and a bolt of lightning shot from their hands. Minato didn't hesitate for a second. He sprinted and pulled the girl into an embrace. He grabbed her from behind and spun her around. Incidentally, his hands accidentally gripped her breasts. She squeaked in indignation.

"Kyaah! Where do you think you're grabbing you pervert?!" Minato didn't answer however as the bolt of lightning struck his back. Pain lanced through him as the lightning arced through his body. He cried out and fell to his knees, the girl still in his arms. She looked up at him, horrified.

"What are you doing! You could die!" Through the pain, he managed to force a smile, though it looked a bit more like a grimace.

"I couldn't just let you get hurt now could I?" Looking down at her face, something seemed to change in her. She started to lean closer.

"No! Stop her Hibiki!" But it was too late. Her lips pressed onto Minato's and wings of light sprouted from her back. Their lips separated and she stepped free of Minato and brandished her scythe, a confident smile on her face.

"By the scythe of my pact, may my ashikabi's perils be sliced in twain!" She swung and a blast of air shot at the two women, sending them flying and ripping apart their clothes, leaving them in rags, cuts all over their body. They stumbled to their feet, dazed, and looked at each other.

"Run Hibiki!" They turned and jumped up to the top of a building, running away. The girl prepared to give chase, but remembered Minato and turned to face him.

"Sekirei #43, Yomi, at your service." Minato smiled up at her.

"That's... Fantastic..." He murmured, and collapsed.

**A/N: Okay, that's the chapter. Warning, this author's note will be rather long. Thank you again to all the people who have read and reviewed my story. So, in this story, Kuno is the main heroine, but by no means the only one. I was actually inspired to write this story after I read "Minato's One and Only Wife" by lord of the land of fire. That story is really great and I would definitely recommend it. Anyway, I will try to have some romance with each of Minato's sekirei. Okay, now on to my thoughts on Kuno's powers. The way I see it, her powers are exceptionally powerful, the problem is that her body can't handle it. A sekirei's power is based on their relationship with their ashikabi. I think that Minato is an ashikabi that can bring his sekirei to a new level with his kindness. Anyway, that's it, I hope that you all liked the chapter, I read a review that mentioned Yomi and thought "Hmm, that sounds interesting." In the canon she thought that he was a pervert, so I thought that I would keep that. I hope I didn't disappoint anyone. I'm also coming around to Uzume, so that goes to show, mentioning a your thoughts might affect me :P Just remember though, don't just throw out names and expect me to add them, but if you share your thoughts and have a logical view on why, I might just add them. Anyway. Till next time!**

**CassiusBrutus out!**


	4. Dreaming

**A/N: Hahaha, only one day between posts. I have to say, I thought this would take me longer, but this chapter just came to me. It's shorter than the others, but I'll make it up with a longer chapter in the next day or 2. **

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 4: Dreaming

When Minato opened his eyes, he saw a girl standing over him, looking concerned. It took his brain a second to remember and register what had happened just now. He remembered getting struck by lightning and, his face deepened a shade redder, kissing this girl. He sat up, groaning in pain.

"You are... Yomi-san, right?" She looked concerned for a moment when he groaned, but her expression quickly changed to a sneer.

"Yes, and you're my ashikabi. For some reason, I seem to have reacted to you when you grabbed me." She sighed, almost in regret. "Well, nothing I can do about it now. Tell me, who are you?" He smiled at her, amused.

"My name is Minato. Well then, shall we get going?" She glared at him for a moment before nodding. She helped Minato to his feet, and as he was still weak, allowed him to lean on her as they walked in the direction of Maison Izumo.

"Do anything perverted and I will make you wish you'd never been born." She continued to glare at him. As they walked, her mind went back to just moments before when he had saved her. It had obviously been an accident that he had grabbed her, but just thinking on it made her face heat up. She averted her eyes from Minato as she supported him on the way home.

As they stumbled down the street, a figure in flowing white sheets watched. It was seated on the edge of a building and had quietly observed the entire situation. A smile touched it's lips.

"Well now, he might just be something."

As they approached Maison Izumo, Minato was able to walk on his own again. They entered through the front door and were immediately greeted by Miya.

"Oh, and who is this Minato-san?" She smiled, but Minato could feel the danger of answering wrong.

"Ermm, Ms. Landlady, this is Yomi-san. She is a friend of mine who needs a place to stay. Is that all right?" Her smile became warmer.

"Of course. Like I told you, my policy is to never turn anyone away. I'll go prepare a room. Dinner is ready by the way, there should be enough for your friend as well." She turned and left up the stairs. Minato entered the inn, followed closely by Yomi, who was taking in her surroundings. They went into the dining room, and Kuno immediately came out from the kitchen, carrying a plate of curry.

"Welcome home Minato-san, here's your dinner." She set it on the table and waited. Minato glanced over and noticed that her hands were covered in bandages.

"Kuno-san, did you help with dinner tonight?" She nodded. Smiling, he took a spoonful of curry and tasted it. He grinned at Kuno.

"It's delicious. Thank you so much Kuno-san!" Kuno smiled shyly and started to sway in place, her hands behind her back.

"R-really? That's nice to hear." She froze in place, noticing Yomi for the first time. "Minato-san, who is this?" Yomi was glaring at the domestic show that had just been put on in front of her. She struck a pose.

"I am sekirei #43, Yomi. And you are?" Kuno blinked several times.

"I-I'm sekirei #95, Kuno. N-nice to meet you." This time it was Yomi's turn to pause. Slowly, her head turned to Minato.

"Minato-kun?" She asked, using a familiar term for the first time. "You already had a sekirei before me?" Minato chuckled nervously.

"Umm, well... yes?" Clearly he had answered incorrectly, because he could almost see the flames of anger pouring off her body. Suddenly though, the flames disappeared and she sat next to him. She asked Kuno to bring her a plate of food, which Kuno did immediately. She sat in silence and ate, pointedly ignoring Minato, but politely conversing with Kuno, who was terribly confused at the whole situation.

From the doorway, Minato heard a voice, "Oh, who is this?" Minato turned and saw Uzume standing in the doorway, fully dressed much to Minato's relief. She was in a tight pink long sleeve shirt and capri jeans. Though, the way it clung to her body, Minato didn't think it was much better than when she was in her underwear. He blushed and turned his head, looking directly at Yomi, who was once again glaring at him. At that moment Miya entered the room.

"This is Yomi-san. She will be staying with us now as well." Uzume didn't answer however, when Yomi jumped to her feet and stormed up to Uzume, examining her face closely.

"You are still unwinged?" Uzume froze in her place, a stiff smile on her face.

"W-w-w-w-what do you mean?" She stuttered. Miya sighed, and everyone turned to face her.

"There's no use pretending Uzume-san. Minato-san, we know about the sekirei plan. My late husband worked for MBI." Minato was shocked to say the least, and Kuno wasn't any better. They merely glanced at each other in surprise. There were no words to describe how they felt. In the end, Uzume just sighed.

"Yeah, okay. I am sekirei #10 Uzume. I haven't yet found my ashikabi." She winked at Minato, making him blush from head to toe. "Maybe it will even be you." Kuno and Yomi both sputtered before Uzume told them it was a joke, though as she left, she gave Minato another wink. After the events of the day, Minato was feeling exhausted, so as the sun set, he went to bed.

As he and Kuno were about to enter their room, Yomi exclaimed, "Whoah, what are you doing?!" Kuno blinked back at her.

"We are going to bed?" She asked. Yomi's face flushed red as certain less than appropriate thoughts and images flooded her mind.

"No, no, no! What if that pervert does something to you?! You are going to stay with me!" She grabbed Kuno's hand and dragged her in the direction of her new room.

"Wait... But... I want to stay with-" They disappeared around the corner into their room with Kuno reaching her hand back at Minato while she was dragged away. Chuckling, Minato shook his head and went into his room and went to sleep.

_He was is a forest. Light filtered through the leaves of the trees above. From somewhere, he could hear crying. He set off in the direction of the sound. He wandered for what seemed like forever, but as time passed, he felt that he was getting closer to the source. What was it? Why was it calling to him? These thoughts were at the forefront of his mind as he walked. Eventually, he broke the treeline and entered a clearing with a giant tree in the center. He could just make out a small shape huddled up at the base of the tree. As he approached, he saw that it was a little girl. She had long orange hair and was in a little light green dress._

"_Are you okay? Why are you crying?" He asked. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. The tears shimmered against the deep green of her irises._

"_I can't find Shiina. I'm so lonely. Where am I?" He crouched down and placed a hand on her head in comfort._

"_Don't worry, Onii-chan will protect you." He smiled._

"_Onii-chan?" She asked. He nodded and smiled softly. There was a tugging sensation and he was pulled away from her. He struggled against the current, but it was no use._

_Just before he was pulled out of sight, he called out, "What is your name?" He saw her mouth move, but couldn't hear a response._

Minato jerked awake. That dream had been disconcertingly vivid. He felt a pressure on his chest and realized that he wasn't alone. He was looking into a familiar smiling face. Uzume smiled down at Minato. She placed a finger to her lips and motioned for him to remain quiet. He glanced down and saw her breasts pressed against his chest. She was in her underwear once again. He flushed crimson as he realized the situation he was in. A beautiful woman was lying on top of him, almost naked. Uzume moved her face and placed her mouth directly next to his ear.

"I was being serious earlier you know. I saw you when you protected #43. Even though you could have died, you risked your life to protect someone you didn't even know. I think that you could be someone that I could love, so if you are willing, I want to be your sekirei. Is that alright?" Minato blinked in surprise. He could only nod slowly.

"Thank you." She whispered and lowered her lips to his. She pressed her mouth firmly to his much more forcefully than either Kuno or Yomi. Both of those kisses had been chaste, but Uzume knew what she wanted. She forced her tongue into his mouth and kissed him deeply. He could only lie there, stunned. Familiar light blossomed from her back as wings of light exploded outwards.

Finally, their lips disconnected, however Minato could still taste her after she was gone. Uzume removed herself from Minato and opened the door.

"Time for me to go before Miya catches me in here." She winked. "I'll see you later. Next time, we can do so many fun things, right Mi~ Na~ To~?" He flushed and she blew a kiss, making him turn even redder before shutting the door and leaving him alone.

For the longest time, Minato just sat in the dark, his mind running a mile a minute. Eventually though, his mind calmed enough for him to drift back to sleep.

**A/N: Wow, so this chapter is shorter than I wanted, but this felt like the most natural place to end it. I am actually pretty happy with how it turned out though. Anyway, as always, thank everyone who has read and reviewed my story. I am honored that you think it is good enough to warrant your praise. Okay then, I have been receiving a lot of requests for certain sekirei to be part of Minato's harem, and my idea has actually changed drastically from my original idea. I can say for sure though, I will definitely not be adding Karasuba, Benitsubasa, or Haihane. It's funny, I was actually against the idea of Uzume in his group, but it really grew on me with her straightforward and honest personality. I am also looking forward to writing my very very tsundere Yomi. I hope that's okay with everyone :3 Anyway, in the end, the harem will probably have between 7 and 8 girls or so, give or take one or two. Oh yeah, to "Liking This", I was confused for probably 6 hours until I realized that when you said desplane squid, it was a typo for Discipline Squad. I appreciate all of your opinions and I hope that you continue to share them. Thanks for reading and see you next time.**

**CassiusBrutus out!**


	5. A New Family Member

**A/N: Okay next chapter up. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Sekirei or any of the characters.**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 5: A New Family Member

When Minato opened his eyes, it was morning. He left his room and proceeded down the hall and into the dining room. Yomi and Kuno were sitting and eating breakfast. They glanced up when he entered and Kuno smiled.

"Good morning Minato-san. Did you sleep well?" Memories of the previous night coming back, Minato blushed and shook his head to shake out those thoughts.

"Yes, though I did have a rather strange dream. There was this little girl in a forest. I woke up before I could find out her name though." Kuno tilted her head, curious.

"Hmm, that sounds interesting. Here, I prepared your breakfast." She handed him a plate. He smiled and nodded his thanks. As they ate breakfast, they sat in silence. Minato sat across the table from both Kuno and Yomi. Several times, Yomi opened her mouth as if she had something to say, but stopped and looked down at her lap. Finally, she steeled herself and spoke.

"Minato-san. I realize that I've been acting rather rudely. I want to apo-" She froze and Minato felt something press against his back. Uzume wrapped her arms around Minato's neck.

"Good morning Minato 3 Did you sleep well?" She planted a peck on Minato's cheek and he started to choke.

"U-u-uzume-san, what are you doing?!" Yomi bolted to her feet, flames burning in her eyes.

"What the hell is this?!" Uzume just smiled.

"What? I can't say good morning to my ashikabi?" This time it was Yomi's turn to choke and Kuno stared, open mouthed. Yomi rage redirected from her rage from Uzume to Minato.

"You! I can't believe I was about to apologize for being rude to you. You pervert!" She stormed out of the room. Minato sat dazed. Apologize? He turned his attention to Kuno, who was staring down at the table, silent. Uzume removed herself from Minato and helped herself to a serving a breakfast. When everyone had finished, Kuno silently cleaned up breakfast and left the room, leaving Minato and Uzume alone. They sat in silence until there was a knock at the door. Minato jumped to his feet and went to answer the door. When he opened it, Seo was on the other side.

"Seo-san? What are you doing here?" The man in front of him grinned.

"Oh, hey kid. I thought you lived here, those lunches everyday tasted like Miya's cooking. Just thought I'd come by and errm see if she had any extra food." Minato frowned at him confused.

From behind he heard, "Oh, don't worry, this piece of scum was a friend of my late husband. He comes around here to beg for food on occasion." Miya smiled politely, but an evil aura was pouring off her body. Minato shivered, but Seo seemed unaffected.

"So that means you do have some food then?" Seo brushed past Minato and into the house. He was followed by 2 familiar figures. They froze at the same time as Minato and they all pointed at each other.

"""You!""" They all shouted at he same time.

From the stairs a voice called, "Oh, come back for more did you?" All heads jerked in the direction of the voice and they all saw Yomi standing on the stairs, brandishing her scythe. The twins linked hands and electricity sparked. Suddenly, a palpable killing aura appeared and Miya strolled between the two groups. She smiled, but a demon mask appeared and glared at everyone in the room.

"I thought I made it clear that violence was not allowed at Maison Izumo." Frightened, the twins released their hands, and Yomi stashed her scythe. Subdued, they all entered the dining room and sat around the table. The tension was palpable, and everyone was uncomfortable, that is, except for Seo. He yawned and leaned backwards.

"So kid, you are an ashikabi. I thought I smelled it on ya." Minato frowned in confusion. Smelled? Before he could answer though, there was a clatter of plates hitting the floor. Every head jerked to see Kuno standing there, terror in her eyes. Minato jumped to his feet. Kuno ran to him and gripped to him, shivering.

Alarmed, Minato asked, "What's wrong?" She didn't answer and just clung to him tighter.

From behind him, he heard one of the twins say, "Ah, so this is where you were hiding." Minato hugged Kuno and led her out of the room. He sat her down and comforted her a moment before returning. He sat down at the table, his gaze colder than before. He didn't say anything though. Around the table sat Seo who was looking bored, his sekirei Hikari and Hibiki who were sitting stiffly, occasionally glancing over at Miya who was smiling menacingly, Uzume, who was sitting as casually as Seo, and Yomi, who was glaring at the twins and hovering protectively around Minato. It is clear to say that the tension in the room was thick. The silence was broken however, when both Minato's and Seo's phones went off. They both checked it to find a message.

_For all ashikabi. In the botanical gardens, there is a prize that only one can claim. The green girl. Better move quickly or someone will get there before you! _

_-Minaka Hiroto_

There was silence until Yomi burst, "Well, what does it say?!"

"There is a sekirei in the botanical gardens." Was Minato's answer. "Hmm, I had a rather strange dream last night. I felt like something is calling to me. I think I'm going to look for that sekirei." Everyone in the room looked at him with interest. The first to respond was Uzume.

"Well then, shall we go?" Minato paused.

"You're going?"

"Of course, I you might get hurt if I don't go. We can't have that now can we?" He smiled and nodded. Yomi spoke up.

"Obviously I'm going as well. You might do something stupid if it's just her with you." Seo barked a laugh.

"Well kid, have fun. You seem to have it in hand, so I'll just stay here and relax." The smile on Miya's face twitched. The twins, feeling danger, immediately began apologizing for their ashikabi. As the three stood to leave, a small voice was heard.

"I-I would like to go as well." They all turned to see Kuno standing in the doorway. Minato gave a concerned look.

"Are you sure?" She nodded. That was enough for him. The four of them set off for the Botanical Gardens.

Elsewhere in the city, a young man read the same message on his phone.

"Hmm, a sekirei? Fantastic. Akitsu, Mitsuha. Do collect her for me. Don't bother coming back if you fail." The two sekirei nodded and leaped into the air, vanishing.

Back with Minato, the group of four had just reached the edge of the Botanical Gardens. Outside the front gate, there was a tank and several soldiers. Minato stopped out of sight in order to make a plan to sneak past them. However, Yomi placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll take care of this, don't worry." She drew her scythe and approached the group of men. They called out for her to halt, but she ignored them and walked closer. They drew their weapons. Yomi swung her scythe in a wide arc and a giant wave blasted through the area, blowing open the gate and knocking the men out cold. She sighed, disappointed at how simple it was. Uzume nodded in approval.

"Not bad." The all walked through the gate and stepped into a new world. The light of the sun was obscured and it was dark, just light enough to see. The walked slowly with Minato at the head. Minato heard a sniffle and soft crying.

"Did you guys hear that crying?" The all shook their heads. Minato frowned. So it was just him. He led them in the direction of the crying. Somehow he felt that he was getting closer. It was almost like there was a connection to the source of the crying. He imagined the little girl from his dream, alone and crying. He picked up his pace. Somehow this all felt familiar. The trees and the dark. He came to the edge of the trees and he realized what it was. This was the same place from his dreams! Running now, he broke the treeline and came into the clearing of his dreams, and just like in his dreams, a little girl sat crying against a giant tree. He ran to her, leaving the others behind. Once he reached her, he placed his hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him in surprise.

"Onii-chan?" Minato smiled softly and nodded.

"Oh, isn't that sweet. Too bad we'll have to take that little girl from you." Minato jerked his head around and saw the source of the voice. It was a blonde girl in a black and yellow dress. She was sneering at Minato and held a large whip in her hand. Beside her stood another beautiful woman in a white dress and chains around her neck. Minato noticed the sekirei symbol was on her head.

"Give us the girl and you won't get hurt." The girl started to move forward, but stopped when the other three moved into her way. Yomi with her giant scythe stood up front beside Uzume in her flowing white veil. Behind them stood Kuno, looking distinctly less confident.

"I am sekirei #43 Yomi."

"#10 Uzume."

"I-I'm # 95... Kuno." Minato's sekirei introduced themselves. The enemies stared for a moment before answering.

"Hmph. I am sekirei # 38, Mitsuha. That's Akitsu." They launched into battle. Mitsuha charged forward and lashed her whip at Kuno. Kuno flinched, preparing the be hit. The hit never came however when the whip was intercepted by Uzume's veil. They struggled back and forth, their weapons tangled. Akitsu shot shards of ice at Uzume, but a vacuum appeared in the way, destroying the shards. Yomi stepped between Akitsu and Uzume.

"No you don't. Your opponent is me." Akitsu only nodded. Kuno ran over and stood beside Minato as the last line of defense just in case. Minato held the little girl in his arms and watched in awe at the battle in front of him. Uzume and Mitsuha ran around the clearing, striking out with their weapons, neither able to land a hit. Earth exploded as Mitsuha attacked and gashes appeared in trees and rocks alike when Uzume moved. A shock wave exploded outwards as their weapons collided in the air. The force of the attack knocked Uzume backwards into the tree that Minato was hiding under.

At the same time, Akitsu and Yomi were doing battle. Akitsu fired icicles and launched spikes of ice, but none connected. Each time ice flew, Yomi swung her scythe, creating that blast that destroyed the mid-air, but she couldn't connect either, as whenever she got close, Akitsu created a wall of ice that blocked any attack. They exchanged blows, but neither could make any headway. The only difference was that Yomi was getting visibly enraged while Akitsu was still as impassive as ever.

As Uzume got to her feet, Mitsuha lashed her whip at Minato. Kuno stepped in the way, her face resolved.

"Cover your ears Minato-san." He clapped his hands over his ears right as Kuno let out a piercing scream. A wall of sound appeared and the whip rebounded off of it. Kuno let out a second scream and the wave manifested in a different form. The wave shot forward and collided with Mitsuha, knocking him off her feet. Kuno stumbled, feeling weak. She fell, and Minato caught her in his arms. He smiled down at her.

"Thank you Kuno-san. You did great." He held Kuno and the little girl and watched as Mitsuha stood back to her feet. She grit her teeth in anger.

"I'm going to kill you now. I was going to let you live, but not any-" She froze as a finger touched the back of her neck. Uzume stood behind her, her face serious.

"You shouldn't let your guard down." Akitsu shot several shards at Uzume, but they were once again intercepted by Yomi.

"By the veil of my contract, my ashikabi's nightmares will be dispelled." There was a flash of light at the point of contact between the two sekirei and the mark on the back of Mitsuha's neck disappeared.

"No," She whispered as she collapsed into a heap. Akitsu watched as she fell, and seeing that she had no way to win, she fled. Yomi began to give chase, but Minato called for her to wait. She stopped and sighed before returning to the others. Minato helped Kuno to her feet and stood, holding the little girl in his arms. She was looking at him a serious and extremely cute look on her face.

"Onii-chan? Will you be my ashikabi?" She didn't wait for an answer and leaned up and kissed him. A green light flashed and wings sprouted from her back. When the light disappeared, he set her down and she stood by his side, holding onto his hand. Minato looked down at her.

"What is your name?"

"My name is Kusano." He smiled at her.

"Ku-chan then. Well then, welcome to our family Ku-chan. These three are a part of your family as well." The three other women smiled at the little girl, but Ku frowned and gripped tightly to Minato's leg. Kuno continued to smile and Uzume laughed at the little girl's obvious attachment, but Yomi's face twitched.

"What do you think you're doing to MY MINATO!" She shouted and froze. Her eyes widened and her face flushed deep crimson. She sputtered in an attempt to regain her footing, but in the end, she gave up and just turned her back and decided to ignore that the others even existed. Uzume managed to keep a straight face for several seconds, however she couldn't maintain it and exploded in laughter. Her laugh echoed throughout the woods and Minato couldn't help but laugh too. He could see Yomi's face deepening in color still as they laughed. Minato heard the sound a helicopters.

"We should probably go, MBI will probably be here soon." Uzume shook her head.

"They aren't coming for us. They're coming for her." She nodded down at Mitsuha's lifeless body. "They are coming to collect her and we need to wait until then." Minato nodded. They all took a seat on the ground and got acquainted with the new member of their family as they waited for MBI to arrive.

**A/N: Okay there you have it. Man I have to say, Kuno is the original starting heroine, but she is so difficult to write romance scenes for. Because she and Minato are both quiet and not likely to make a move. It's much easier to write a scene for Uzume, or even Yomi. Do not fret however, as I ****will be doing my best to make meaningful relationships between Minato and all of his sekirei. Now, the reason that I will not be adding Karasuba to Minato's group is that I just don't think that Karasuba's personality works with Minato. Frankly, Karasuba wants to destroy the world and that is why she is working with her canon ashikabi, as he wants the world gone as well. Man, you guys have been messing with my mind so much. You are making requests of sekirei that appeared like once on one page in the manga and I have no clue what you are talking about. Several times I have had to look it up to be honest. Oh well, keep it coming. Aggghhhh, it just kills me, but I think that I can't put Tsukiumi into that group and that honestly kills me, though I am seriously considering Yashima, I can already see the scene with Minato saving her from a forced winging or such. On another note, this is my first time trying to write anything romance or even related to it. I haven't gotten into the romance stuff really yet, but forgive me if it isn't up to par. I hope I will improve if it sucks, and if it is good, then yay! Anyway, thank you all for reading, please review. See you next time.**

**CassiusBrutus out!**


	6. Wishing For a Peaceful Day

**A/N: Hello all! I'm back and I just want to say sorry for the wait. It wasn't because I was too lazy too update, but I was out of town and didn't have my computer. Now I have returned and I am fresh with new ideas. I've even already figured out exactly how the last couple of chapters for the story are going to go, but worry not, the end is still a long way off. So without anymore of my rambling, Enjoy!**

Chapter 6: Wishing For a Peaceful Day

MBI had come and collected the body of Mitsuha. Minato watched as several men in suits picked up and loaded her still form into the back of a helicopter. After that, the group left the botanical gardens and went home with their new little friend. On the way, they were speaking about the battle.

"You guys are really amazing. I can't believe that you can do all that. Honestly it makes me feel a little worthless," Minato said while rubbing the back of his head. Yomi smacked him on the side of his head.

She looked him in the eyes and said, "Don't call yourself worthless. You were really brave when you saved me, and I wouldn't pick anyone worthless as my ashikabi." She blushed a little and looked away, clearing her throat. Uzume wrapped her arms around Minato's neck.

"Minato~, did I do good?" Minato reddened.

"O-of course you did, you all did great." Uzume brushed her hand across Minato's cheek.

"Well then, how about you give me a little kiss as a reward?" Her face moved closer. Almost immediately however, she was interrupted. Yomi grabbed Minato's arm and pulled him away.

"Oh no you don't!" She pulled him away, her arms wrapped around his. Uzume's face scrunched into a pout. Once she realized that she was still holding his arm, Yomi let go and jumped back. Uzume burst into laughter. Minato watched as they started to argue, or rather Yomi yelled and Uzume laughed. While he was watching, Ku held his hand and watched the two women intently. Minato felt a tug, and he turned to see Kuno pulling on the sleeve of his jacket.

Looking at the ground, she mumbled, "Did I do well?" Smiling, he placed a hand on her head.

"You did fantastic! Thank you Kuno-san." She had a pleased look on her face as he patted her head. After that, Minato decided that it was time to get back home, so he broke up Yomi and Uzume and led the group back to Maison Izumo.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

When they arrived back, it was getting dark. Minato greeted them at the door. She smiled as she noticed the little girl gripping tightly to Minato's hand.

"Who is this?" Ku hid behind Minato's leg, peeking out from behind him.

"This is Ku-chan, she is my newest sekirei." Miya continued to smile, but it took on a terrifying quality to it.

"Oh? So you "winged" her?" Minato shivered.

"Errm, yes?"

"I see. Well then, she can stay in my room while you live here."

"Oh, I couldn't impose on you like that," Minato said, thinking that it would be putting her out. Miya however, saw it another way.

"Oh, so you want to share a room with this little girl? I thought that I made it clear that we don't condone illicit activities here." A demon manifested behind her and Minato could feel his life getting shorter with each passing moment.

"W-wait, I didn't mean anything like that! Okay! Of course she will stay with you then!" The demon disappeared and Miya's smile returned to normal.

"Good. Now then, come in and have some dinner before it gets cold." With a sigh of relief, Minato followed Miya into the house and sat to have dinner. On his right sat Yomi, and to his left was Uzume. Kuno was sitting just across the table and Ku had settled herself in his lap. As Miya was serving dinner, there was a voice from the doorway.

"Who is this? Another new tenant?" Minato turned his head to the voice and saw Kagari leaning against the doorway. They all exchanged greetings before Miya spoke.

"Ah, hello Kagari-san, would like to join us for dinner?" He shook his head.

"Sorry, I've gotta go to work. See you when I get back."

"Okay, I'll have something for you to eat when you get back." With a goodbye, Kagari disappeared from sight and Minato could hear the door open and close. Minato sat and thought for a short moment. It was the night, so where was he going?

"Ms. Landlady? Where does Kagari-san work when he has to go to work so late at night?" Miya chuckled.

"Why, he's a host." Minato nodded, choosing to take the safest route and not say anything. That didn't stop everyone around the table however. Kuno looked at him confused.

"Minato-san, what's a host?" Minato struggled with trying to find the best way to answer, however, Uzume came to his rescue.

"That would be a question you should ask Kagari-san. Why don't you ask him next time you see him?" With a serious face, Kuno nodded. That over, they began dinner. Everything went smoothly and Minato thought that maybe they would be able to go at least a little while with some peace, but those hopes were destroyed when Ku turned around with some food on her fork and pushed it toward Minato's mouth.

"Here Onii-chan, have some of this." She had a very serious, very cute look on her face. Minato couldn't turn her down, so he took a bite of the food. Feeling a dangerous aura, he looked back to see Yomi looking at him, her face twitching.

From the other side however, he heard, "Oooh that looks fun! Let me try!" Turning, he saw Uzume holding out a fork just like Ku had.

"Say ahhh~" Minato felt like if he took the food, he wouldn't live very long, so he tried to find a way to turn her down. From across the table Kuno was making a sad face. Her pouting face was also cute. Just when he thought that she might come to his rescue, she also offered some food to him.

"Don't forget me Minato-san. Here." Tears flooded down his face as he realized that there was no way out of this deadly situation.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o0o0o

After somehow diffusing the almost hostage situation downstairs, Minato and his sekirei went upstairs to go to bed. They all froze however when Yomi walked straight into Minato's room.

"Ummm, Yomi-san, what are you doing?" She gave him a look that said 'really?'

"I'm going to be staying in here now." A faint tinge of pink stained her cheeks. "It's not like I want to stay in the same room as you, I just don't want you doing something weird and repeating last night." She glared pointedly at Uzume who started laughing. Shaking her head and chuckling, Uzume went to her room, leaving just Kuno, Minato and Yomi in the hall. Yomi was looking embarrassed and was turning redder by the second. Minato decided to try to bread the awkward silence.

"Yomi-san, you don't need to do that. I know you don't want to be around me, so I promise that I won't do anything strange." Yomi's face turned into a pout and she started pressing her fingers together.

"It's not like I don't want to be around you..." Her face turned fierce. "And don't argue! Just get in there and go to sleep!" She stormed into his room and he could hear the thud when she dropped to the ground. Minato looked over at Kuno with a rueful smile on his face. She looked sad.

"Sorry Kuno-san. I'll make it up to you okay?" His smile was contagious and she smiled back at him before slowly walking into the room she had been sharing with Yomi. Sighing and preparing for the inevitable, Minato strode into his room to an unexpected sight. There were two futons a couple of feet apart, and he expected that. However what he didn't expect is that in the time it took for him to say goodnight to Kuno, Yomi had set up a curtain between the two futons. Immediately, Minato burst into laughter thinking, _What, am I in a manga now?._ At his laughter, Yomi scowled.

"I don't want you thinking that just because we're sleeping in the same room you can do anything weird." Shaking his head and chuckling, Minato laid on his bed and went to sleep, leaving Yomi fuming at being ignored. After the day he had, Minato slipped into sleep in moments.

When he woke up, Minato was surprised to find that it wasn't he who had crossed the barrier. Yomi had her arms wrapped around his waist and was sleeping peacefully, a content smile on her face. Minato smiled and brushed a hair that had fallen onto her face back behind her ear. She stirred and Minato froze, afraid of her waking up and misunderstanding this position. Slowly, he removed himself from her arms and left his room to get ready to go to work for the day.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

After work, the foreman at the job site approached Minato.

"Hey kid, I'm letting everyone know that this is the last day we're working here. Nice workin with ya." Minato nodded his thanks and, packing up his things, set off for home. Walking the streets, Minato noticed that there weren't very many people around, so it was pretty quiet, and that let Minato focus on his thoughts. A lot had happened in the past few days. Finding Kuno, getting evicted, Maison Izumo, meeting Yomi, Uzume's... advances, and saving Ku. He'd barely had time to breath with everything going on. Oh well, maybe today would be a quiet day of relaxation where nothing exciting would happen.

That idea flew out the window however when Minato rounded a corner and heard, "-your ashikabi don'cha?" He saw that the street was empty except for two people. There was a man in a green hoodie who held a girl by her cheeks. He had an almost evil grin on his face and the girl, who Minato noticed carried a giant, almost cartoon like hammer beside her, looked scared. Minato hesitated for only a moment to wonder after his wish of a quiet day before moving. His pride as a man, even a cowardly man, couldn't withstand him leaving a girl to this kind of situation. Even if she was clearly a sekirei (He heard the word ashikabi as well, so maybe that helped with that realization.) Minato sprinted to the couple and shoved the man back from the girl. The guy scowled at him.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Minato cringed and hesitated. He had never been good at confrontation, or pressure for that matter. Eventually, he managed to steel his nerves.

"You shouldn't treat a girl like that," was all he managed to get out through his nervousness. The guy scoffed.

"She's mine, don't get in my way. Now, scurry off before I have to make you wish you hadn't gotten in my way." That tore it for Minato. He sneered (An expression that didn't come easy to Minato's usually kind face.) at the thug in front of him.

"She's a person and doesn't belong to anyone. She deserves to choose who her ashikabi is, though I don't think that you deserve anyone with the way you act." He heard the girls breath catch from behind him. "She is free to make her own choices." The guy barked a laugh. It was a sharp, cruel sound that perfectly fit this thug.

"You're stupid. She's mine and you can't do anything about it. I'll be winging her in just a moment." He looked past Minato. "Now get over here," he barked. Minato glanced over his shoulder to see the girl move on foot as if to step. However, when she looked over and saw Minato's concerned face she put her foot back where it was and stared at the ground, conflicted. The thug's face was a mask of surprise and disgust.

"You whore!" He glared at Minato, killing intent pouring off his body. He pulled out a switchblade and flicked it open.

"Fine, I guess I'll just take care of you myself." Minato heard a gasp from the girl behind him. The thug lunged and Minato barely managed to jerk out of the way. He kept swinging his knife and Minato managed to dodge each blow. The guy swung his knife in a wide arc and Minato leaped backwards. His back collided with the wall of a store behind him. He had no where to run. The thug smirked at him. Slowly, he almost danced up to Minato. He thrust and Minato closed his eyes and waited for the pain. It never came. He opened his eyes and saw the girl holding the surprised thugs wrist. There were tears in her eyes. The thug grimaced in pain and somehow sneered at the same time.

"You bitch! Let go of me before I kill you too!" He raised his left hand as if to slap her. He swung his hand, but it never connected. Minato grunted in pain as his fist connected with the thugs face. Blood ran down his face from his now broken nose and he yelped in surprise when he found himself flying through the air after the girl had thrown him with a strength not befitting a girl of her size. There was a lout thud as he connected with a building and he fell to the ground. Whimpering, he scurried off, cursing the whole way.

"I'll get you for this you bastard! You too you traitorous bitch!" Then he disappeared. Minato sighed in relief and shook his hand in pain. Suddenly his back was up against the wall again and the girl was pressing against his chest. She looked up at him and Minato saw that there were tears in her eyes and a faint blush on her cheeks.

"Did you mean what you said before? About me choosing my own ashikabi?" This was the first time Minato heard her speak. Her voice was higher than he expected. Looking down at her, he finally got a good look at her. She was wearing a short white gown. Her light brown hair was mussed and the blue ribbon was on the verge of falling out. Before answering, Minato straightened her bow, surprising her.

"Of course I did. You are your own person and are free to do what you want, and that includes choosing your ashikabi." She moved a little closer and Minato swallowed as her breasts pressed against his chest. She laced her arms around around his neck and drew his face closer to hers.

When they were only centimeters apart she whispered, "Then I choose you." And kissed him. Familiar light flashed and a pair of massive blue wings sprouted from her back. Even after the wings disappeared, the girl continued to fervently kiss him, as if confirming that he was still there. When she finally pulled back, she hugged him tight and pressed her face into his chest. Minato put his arms around her shoulders and hugged her back.

"My name is Minato by the way."

Through his shirt his heard her mumble, "Hello Minato-sama, sekirei # 84 Yashima at your service." All Minato did was sigh, thinking about what he was going to say when he got back to Maison Izumo.

**A/N: So Yashima is the next sekirei that Minato gets. I actually had a lot of fun writing this chapter once I got past the beginning. I hope you all liked it. Thanks to everyone who has supported this story and reviewed. It really is a great motivation to keep writing when people give such positive feedback. I hate it when people don't finish their stories, so I am going to be working hard to make sure that this is going to be completed. Well, I hope you like this chapter, I should have the next one up by tomorrow night.**

**CassiusBrutus out!**


	7. An Almost Reunion

**A/N: Okay, so I meant to have this chapter out last night, but I was overwhelmed by debilitating laziness. However after reading a really, really, really sucky self-insert fic, I got the drive to keep writing. I have this thing where when I start something, I have to finish it, no matter how bad it is. And obviously there is nothing better than a bad fic to make you think "Well, I could do better than that!" So thank that author for getting me out of my funk! And here is the next chapter, Enjoy!**

Chapter 7: An Almost Reunion

The reaction of the residents of Maison Izumo when Minato returned home with Yashima hadn't quite been exactly as he had expected. He had opened the door and was greeted by Yomi, who seemed to be in a good mood as she was smiling at him (A rare occurrence indeed) as she greeted him.

"Welcome home Minato. How was w-" She froze mid word when she say Yashima who was still clinging to Minato's arm. Minato braced himself as he saw her frozen smiling face twitch.

"Mi~ Na~ To~? Who is this?" Her voice was deceptively calm. He rubbed the back of his head with his right hand, as his left was somewhat occupied at the moment, and chuckled nervously.

"Yomi-san, this is Yashima-san. She is a sekirei who has chosen me as her ashikabi. I hope that you will all make her feel at home." Yomi's face turned sad.

She whispered in a voice so low that Minato almost couldn't catch what she said, "You just go looking for them don't you. Aren't we enough for you?" She shifted her gaze to Yashima and her face changed into a more familiar emotion. Anger.

"Minato, can you please tell me." Her voice rose with each word. "Why. Is. She. Holding. Onto. You. Like. THAT!" She exploded and Yashima, who Minato expected to cower away from Yomi wrath took the opposite approach. Still holding onto Minato's arm, she took a step forward and stood a little taller.

"Isn't it normal for a sekirei and their ashikabi to be close? I just want to be close to Minato-sama." Yomi's face twitched again, and this time, instead of yelling, she latched onto Minato's other arm, causing him to yelp. He glanced down at the flushed red Yomi holding his arm.

"W-w-what are you doing?!"

In response, she looked down at her feet and whispered, "Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not doing this because I want to, I just wanna get you away from her!" With the word 'her', Yomi pulled hard, almost yanking Minato off his feet. Yashima pulled back and a sort of tug-of-war began using Minato as the rope. They yanked him back and forth, and just when he thought that it was going to end, he head a voice.

From behind him he heard, "Ooh, how fun! I want in!" And Uzume jumped on his back and began pull him in a third direction. He would have jumped in surprise if there hadn't been three beautiful women pulling him down.

"Uzume-san, why are you doing this?!" In response, all Uzume did was grin wickedly and continue to pull him. In front of him, Minato saw Kuno and Ku enter the room, and seeing all of his other sekirei, and one they didn't recognize, pulling on him, they decided to join in. Kuno pulled on his chest in the opposite direction of Uzume, and Ku latched onto a leg. Tears streamed down Minato's face as he was pulled in different directions by a group of gorgeous women.

**o0o**

Elsewhere in the city, at about the same time, Yukari Sahashi was walking home, carrying her groceries from the day shopping. She it had been a while since she had talked with her brother, so she thought that she might give him call when she got home. She wondered if he was still with that cute Kuno girl. She was clearly to good for him, but she really seemed to care for him, so Yukari suspected that they were still together unless Minato did something stupid, which of course was a very real possibility. While she was lost in her thoughts about her brother, which happened on a pretty frequent basis, a figure fell out of the sky, landing right in front of her. When the figure stood, Yukari saw that it was a boy with messy silver hair and gray eyes. Her eyes began to twinkle. He was gorgeous! I bishounen for sure! Before she could say anything however, there was an explosion on a building on the other side of the street.

"Stop running! You'll be happy being Mikogami's sekirei I promise!" A blonde woman standing on the building that had exploded called out. Yukari could see the fear in the boys eyes and a sudden protective urge sparked inside her. She grabbed his hand and dragged him away from the blonde before the smoke cleared.

She kept running and only stopped when she finally arrived at her apartment. The bishie she had dragged across town finally spoke up when she stopped to catch her breath.

"Umm, far be it for me to complain, but who are you." Yukari turned around and looked at the boy. She couldn't look at his face though because every time she did, she noticed just how pretty he was and started imagining how good he would look in her clothing. She wiped the blood that was dripping from her nose and faced him properly.

"My name is Yukari. You were obviously in trouble and I couldn't just leave a person in trouble now could I?" The boy looked at her with a kind of admiration in his eyes and didn't manage to hear it when she murmured, "Plus, I might never have the chance to have a pretty boy in my room ever again." Under her breath. She motioned in the direction of the building.

"Wanna come in? It's almost dinner, so you must be hungry." The pretty boy meekly nodded and followed her into the building.

When they reached her room, Yukari sat in front the boy and served them tea while dinner cooled down. They sat in silence until Yukari couldn't contain herself anymore.

"What were you running from?! Who are you?! Why were you running?!" It all came out in a rush and Yukari immediately flushed red afterwords. The boy sighed before answering.

"I am sekirei # 107, Shiina. I'm looking for my ashikabi and my little sister." He hesitated before continuing, and Yukari held herself back from blurting out her questions about sekirei and ashikabi. Shiina started again.

"You are a good person, w-would you be my ashikabi?" He started to lean forward. Yukari started to heat up at this.

"Uhh, what would that entail? Is there something I would have to do? What is an ashikabi?" Shiina leaned back to where he previously had been before answering.

"As my ashikabi, you would be my destined partner, and if we won the sekirei plan, we would stay together forever." These words made both Shiina and Yukari flush red. Shiina continued.

"To become my ashikabi, we would have to k-k-kiss." He looked down embarrassed. "B-but, if that isn't enough, w-w-we could do more than that, so please?" He closed his eyes and leaned forward, hope on his red face. Yukari looked at his face and ideas began to run through her head. Kiss? More? What did that mean? Before she knew it, blood spurted out of her nose and with an "Excuse me!" She got up and ran into the bathroom, leaving a saddened Shiina in her room.

Once she reached the bathroom, she washed her face and staunched the flow of blood. She looked into the mirror and saw her flushed face.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" She whispered to herself. She thanked the stars, gods, heavens, whatever it was that let her be walking down the street at that moment. But wait, hadn't she just in essence refused him? Oh god, what if he took back what he said. She threw open the door, her mind made up.

In her room, Shiina still sat, his eyes downcast, but he glanced up when Yukari entered the room. She strode up to him and pulled him to his feet. Without any hesitation, she grabbed the back of his neck and pulled his face to hers and kissed him. His eyes jerked open in surprise, but as the surprise passed he closed his eyes and kissed her back. Lights flashed as the wings exploded from Shiina's back, and this time it was Yukari's turn to be surprised.

When their lips separated, Shiina hugged Yukari and whispered, "Thank you." They finally separated and Yukari sat down surprised. She hadn't expected him to be serious with that sekirei and ashikabi talk. She had thought that talk of destined partners had been a come on. A come on that she had been willing to wholeheartedly accept. But that it had been real? That was something that she had considered out of the realm of possibility.

"So you were telling the truth." She shook her head. "Why don't you start from the beginning? And tell me what you meant when you said that you were looking for your sister." So Shiina started.

"She's not really my sister. She's another sekirei. # 108 Kusano. We got separated and I'm looking for her. I hope that you will help me look for her." Yukari nodded. She thought of her brother, who though he could be an idiot sometimes, was really a very smart person and who could probably come up with a plan to find one girl in the whole city. She said as much to Shiina, who seemed to be willing to accept any help that was offered, though he had one condition.

"We can't tell him anything about sekirei or anything like that. It would put him and us in danger." Yukari nodded, accepting these conditions. So with that conversation out of the way, Shiina told her all about the sekirei plan and all it entailed.

**o0o**

Back at Maison Izumo, after Minato managed to escape from the situation at the front door when Kagari had come home and laughed at all of them and scolded them for clogging the doorway. However, he ran into the same problem at the dinner table. Yashima had insisted on sitting beside him and that caused a stir among his other sekirei, so in the end they had played rock, paper, scissors for who got to sit beside him. That ended with a happy Yashima on his right and an equally happy Uzume to his left. Yomi sat scowling across the table beside a pouting Kuno. Ku sat in his lap like the previous night. Other than that though, dinner went quietly. Everyone welcomed Yashima warmly, and she accepted their welcome just as warmly, though she kept clinging to Minato the whole time.

After dinner, Minato was walking up the stairs toward his room when his phone went off. Glancing at the message he saw that it was from Yukari.

It read,

_Hey Bro, It's been a while, so I thought that you'd be missing me! I gotta talk with you about something, so I need to meet with you tomorrow and I won't take no for an answer. Knowing you, you don't have anything important to do anyway :P. Anyway, if you haven't messed it up with her yet, bring Kuno-san too, it'll be fun! See ya tomorrow!_

After the message, there was a address of a restaurant and the time that she wanted to meet. All Minato could do was sigh. That was so like his sister. Assuming he had nothing to do (It didn't matter to him that he didn't) and expecting him to change his schedule to fit her. And what was that about Kuno? He sighed again. This time when he sighed though, a soft feeling appeared on his back and arms wrapped around his neck.

"Minato~. Why are you sighing? Missing me already 3?" Minato blushed as Uzume whispered sensually into his ear. Laughing, Uzume sauntered past him down the hall and into her room. Before she entered her room however, she leaned backwards and blew him a kiss and gave him a wink, making Minato blush even redder. Hurrying to his room, Minato went to sleep before his other sekirei got there so as to avoid the arguments of previous nights.

When Minato woke in the morning, he found not only Yomi, but also Yashima and Kuno lying on top of him, asleep. He would never say it out loud, but he actually thought that it felt kind of nice. Well, it was nice until Miya opened his door and threatened his life for engaging in "Illicit activities." Oh well, it was just another day at Maison Izumo. He got up and at breakfast, told his sekirei that he was going to meet his sister and that she had requested Kuno come with him. Kuno smiled at the memories of meeting his sister. She was the only one smiling.

All his other sekirei responded by saying something along the lines of, "Minato! I wanna meet your sister!" And they were only dissuaded when he reminded them that she didn't have anything to do with the sekirei plan and that she though Kuno was his girlfriend, though they all pouted at he word girlfriend. In the end, he managed to persuade them not to follow, so he and Kuno left to meet his sister.

**o0o**

The same morning, Yukari was walking down the street beside Shiina. She walked happily at the thought of meeting up with her brother, but Shiina was nervous about meeting him. Yukari had stayed up until it was late talking about her brother, and from what he had heard, Shiina wouldn't have minded if Ku was the sekirei of someone like Minato, but not having met him himself, he couldn't be sure.

They were both deep in thought as they walked, when suddenly a figure landed in front of them. As the figure stood, Yukari realized that it was the same girl that had been chasing Shiina yesterday.

"Found you!" She called and immediately attacked, not even giving Shiina enough time to explain that it was useless now that Yukari was his ashikabi. She moved her hands and a web of strings flew forward, trying to entangle him. Holding up his hand, a wave of what could only be described as decay appeared before him, blocking the strings and disintegrating them. That didn't deter the girl however, and Shiina couldn't manage to stop all of the strings. The ones left started to wrap around Shiina, and he would have been caught, except Yukari managed to tackle Shiina and drag him down the street, away from their pursuer. They could hear cursing from the girl as she gave pursuit. As they ran, Yukari pulled out her phone and typed a short message. With a 'Bing', the message was sent and with an increased intensity, they ran.

**o0o**

Minato and Kuno were waiting at a table at the restaurant Yukari had told them to go to when Minato's phone received a message.

_Bro! Sorry something came up, so I'll make it up to you later! Don't miss me too much!_

Minato groaned. Just like the message from last night, this was exactly like his sister. He showed up and then left him high and dry. Oh well, he might as well make the best out of this. He looked over at Kuno and smiled. She looked at him confused.

"My sister can't make it. Well then, since we don't have anything else to do today, why don't we just spend the day together?" At his request, Kuno grinned from ear to ear and nodded in agreement. Minato held out his hand, smiling brightly, and Kuno, smiling equally bright took it. So hand in hand, they set off to have a day of fun.

**o0o**

From a nearby rooftop, a pair watched as the sekirei and her ashikabi walked down the street. One stood and looked down at the other.

"Those are them right? From the arboretum?" The other figure stood as well. She nodded. They matched the description of the ashikabi and one of the sekirei that had thwarted their ashikabi's plans. They glanced at each other and with a nod, set out in the tracking of their prey.

**A/N: Aaaaaaaand there is the cliffhanger. Honestly this isn't where I wanted to end the chapter, but if I ended it where I wanted, it would be more than twice as long, so I'm cutting this into two parts. The next chapter should be up by Tuesday night at the latest, tomorrow if I feel the urge to write tomorrow, which I probably will. Thanks all for reviewing and a special thanks to Helios-Rufus for sending me a PM with your thoughts on how I could improve my story. I hope that this chapter was a little better. Now on a little rant here, so forgive me. It makes me a little sad to see how few Sekirei stories there are on this sight. I mean Naruto has over 300,000 stories (And don't get me wrong, Naruto is fine, but it's just not my cup of tea) and a great manga/anime like Sekirei has less than 200! Oh well, I guess that I'll have to fill up the section myself! Haha. I've been feeling the sudden urge to write a story about the discipline squad next, so when I'm done, or close to done with this story I'll probably do that. Anyway, like every chapter, let me know what you thought of this one. Till next time!**

**CassiusBrutus out!**


	8. Revelations

**A/N: Okay, next chapter up on time, next should be up in a day or two. Thanks for reading and anyway, Enjoy!**

Chapter 8: Revelations

Minato walked hand in hand down the street with a blushing Kuno. As they walked, he thought hard on what to do to make sure that she had fun on what could only be considered a date by anyone watching. In the end, he settled on a movie and let Kuno to the nearest theater. He bought to tickets for a sappy romance and they sat and watched the movie, still holding hands. When it was done, they left the theater with Kuno, who had been silent up until now, speaking enthusiastically about what she thought about the movie.

"That was so great! It was so sweet when he came and saved her from her evil father and they ran away together!" She was glowing and Minato smiled at her obvious joy. Neither of them even blushed when Kuno let go of his hand and grabbed hold of his arm. Afterwords, they went to the game center where Minato played the claw machine. On his first try, he managed to get the claw in the position and got a little cat plushie as a prize. When he gave it to Kuno, she held it to her chest and smiled happily. At this point, it was getting close to Midday, so Minato suggested that they get something to eat, an idea that Kuno eagerly agreed to. As they walked, they settled into a comfortable silence. Minato blinked in surprise when a shadow appeared over him. Before he could look up however, there was a thud as something landed behind him. His head exploded when something collided with his skull. Everything went dark.

**o0o**

Sometime later, Minato opened his eyes to find himself on the floor of a dimly lit room. His head throbbed in pain. He was on a concrete floor. Suddenly alarmed, he cast his eyes around the room searching for Kuno. He was relieved to find her sitting in a corner, holding the stuffed cat the Minato had won her to her chest. When she saw that he was awake, tears filled her eyes and she jumped to her feet and ran over to him, hugging him tight.

"Minato-san, you're alright! I was so worried!" Sitting up, he hugged her back.

"Where are we?" She shook her head.

"I don't know. I don't even know how long we were out." Frowning, Minato looked around the room for a way to escape. He was disheartened to see that it was not only was the floor concrete, but so were the walls. There was a large metal door with a small eye slot. In the room, the only light came from a small overhead bulb.

No sooner than the throbbing in Minato's head subsided and he could focus once again, the door creaked open. Two figures strode in and stood before Minato and Kuno. They were two beautiful women, and Minato guessed that they were sekirei. One was wearing a long kimono and had long black hair tied back with a ribbon. The other wore a white dress with a hole in the center revealing her smooth stomach that barely covered her large breasts. She had long gray hair and had a confident smile.

"Good morning sleepy head! You've been out for about 8 hours." Minato glared at the woman.

"Who are you? Why are we here?" The gray haired woman barked a laugh before answering.

"You're our prisoner, so I don't have to answer, but I will anyway. I'm sekirei # 65, Taki, and this is Himeko. She's # 15. As for why you're here, if you think back to the arboretum, your sekirei disabled a friend of ours, so we captured you and are going to use you as bait to lure those other sekirei that were involved. Mutsu will be here in about an hour, so there's no way they'll win." She leaned forward and put her finger right in front of Minato's face. "You will be released once we take care of your sekirei. The rules say we can't hurt ashikabi and Mikogami follows the rules to a T." She turned and left. The black haired sekirei Himeko followed, but before she left, she turned and bowed to Minato.

"I'm very sorry for this inconvenience. Our ashikabi just can't let it go when he loses. And believe me, when Mutsu get's here, he will win." And on that note, she turned and left, the metal door closing with a loud thud. Seeing that they were gone, Minato finally showed the worry that had been growing in his heart. What was going to happen? They made it seem like this "Mutsu" was really strong, so Minato worried not for his safety, but for his sekirei. He gripped his head and held it between his knees, shaking. _Dammit! Why can't I be strong enough to protect them. Arrrgh! _He thought. He sat wallowing in his own grief until he heard sniffling. Jerking his head up, Minato saw that in front of him, Kuno was gripping her cat with tears streaming down her face. It was then that Minato realized that even though he couldn't physically protect her, he still had to be strong for Kuno. He wrapped his arms around her and she leaned into his chest, sobbing and shivering. Eventually, she looked up at him, tears staining her beautiful face.

"I'm so sorry Minato-san. I'm so useless. I couldn't even protect you. I bet if Yomi-san or Uzume-san had been with you, none of this would have happened. They're all so much better than me. I wouldn't blame you for abandoning me after this." She leaned back into his chest and resumed her sobbing. Minato sat in silence as Kuno cried and thought on her words. She hadn't been afraid for herself. She'd been sad because she couldn't protect him. He gripped her shoulders and pushed her out to arms length, his face grim. She looked at his face, with tears still leaking out of her eyes.

"Don't call yourself worthless ever again!" He nearly shouted. "Yomi-san, Uzume-san and the others are important to me," He started and she looked sad. "But so are you!" Kuno's eyes widened.

"You aren't worthless! If anything, I'm the worthless one! I have no idea what all of you wonderful girls see in me." Kuno started to respond, but Minato cut her off.

"All of you are special to me. Even though new girls have been showing up and claiming a place in my life, you will always have a place in my heart." Minato's face softened and he placed a hand gently on her cheek. She place her hand on his and he continued.

"Like I told you when I first became your ashikabi, I will stay with you as long as you want to stay with me. I would never abandon you!" Feeling bold, he drew closer and kissed her. She melted into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back and that oh so familiar light flashed. They stayed together for what seemed like hours until Kuno pulled back, a smile on her face. She hugged Minato tightly.

"Thank you Minato. I'll do my best to prove that I'm worthy of your trust." With a grim determination, she stood and faced the imposing door.

"Cover your ears." Was all she said. Knowing what was coming, Minato slammed his hands over his ears and watched. Kuno let out a piercing scream and the sound waves manifested like they had in the forest. There was something different though. The waves looked more... Tangible, more... Solid. The wave moved forward and slammed into the door and if blew off its hinges. Kuno walked into the next room, not showing the weakness she had exhibited when she had first used her powers. The two sekirei in the next room jerked to their feet in surprise and sprung into action. Himeko drew a large bladed weapon and brandished it. Taki moved her hands and mist filled the room, obscuring Minato and Kuno's vision. Kuno let out another scream, this time in a wide wave instead of a controlled shot, and dispelled the mist from the room. Surprised, Minato watched as Himeko jumped forward to attack and Kuno loudly spoke a few words.

"By the song of my pact, light the way for my ashikabi." And then she... sang. Minato faintly heard her beautiful siren song through his hands. It made him feel calm, at ease. He watched as the other sekirei in the room slowed until they were barely standing. Almost at the same time, they collapsed, unconscious. Kuno continued to sing for only a moment after her opponents were incapacitated. She took a deep breath and turned to smile at Minato, who had uncovered his ears and smiled back. She took a step toward him, but stumbled, coughing. Minato stood, alarmed as she fell to her knees, hacking. He spotted a dark pool staining the ground in front of her. It was blood.

"Kuno!" Minato ran to her side and she collapsed into his arms, unconscious. He wiped the blood from her lip and held her. Water dropped onto her face, and Minato looked up to see if the ceiling was leaking. It wasn't. He touched his face to find it wet, he was crying. He let the tears stream down his face as he held her tightly to his chest.

"Why did you push yourself so hard? I don't want you hurting yourself for my sake." He was shaking, now in anger. Anger at her, for hurting herself for his sake. Anger at the other two sekirei for forcing them into this situation, but most of all, anger at himself for being so weak.

"Dammit, why can't I do anything for them?!" He sat, holding her and cursing his face until Kuno stirred. He looked at her face as she half opened her eyes and looked up at him, a weak smile on her face. She lifted a hand and brushed the tears from Minato's cheek.

"Don't cry Minato-san, I'm all right." She obviously wasn't but seeing that she was at least conscious, Minato was extremely relieved. Letting out a giant sigh, he pulled her back against his chest, shaking.

"Kuno, don't do that to me ever again, I was so worried." She hugged him back, starting to regain her strength. The other figures in the room began to stir, bringing Minato out of his stupor.

"We should get out of here. They were talking about a really strong sekirei coming soon and I don't wanna be here when he gets here. Can you walk?" Kuno nodded, but when she tried to stand, her legs buckled and she fell. Without another thought, Minato swept out her feet and picked up her light body. Carrying her in his arms, he jogged out of the building to find himself in the dark, somewhere near the docks. He walked around a bit to get his bearings, and eventually, he managed to recognize what street he was on. Breathing a sigh of relief, he carried Kuno in the direction of home.

**o0o**

When Minato finally arrived at Maison Izumo, he was exhausted. Even though she was very light, carrying a person for the over and hour walk home was extremely tiring. Despite her protests that she was fine now, Minato carried Kuno on his back. When he entered through the door, he was ambushed.

"WHERE WERE YOU?" Yomi jumped him as soon as he got home. She got site of Kuno being carried on Minato's back and raised an eyebrow. He let Kuno off, but she still stood beside him as he explained everything that had happened. Well, not everything. He left the date with Kuno out of it. As he told the story, the expression on Yomi's face changed from rage to worry and Yashima, who had arrived in the middle of the explanation, immediately grabbed onto Minato, as if to ensure that he was still there. Uzume was asleep in her room upstairs and Ku was helping Miya wash the dishes that they had used for dinner. Even though she looked worried, Yomi didn't speak until Minato had finished his story.

"Are you all right? They didn't hurt you did they?" Minato shook his head.

"I'm fine, though one who got hurt was Kuno, but it's fine now." Kuno nodded in agreement at Minato's assessment, but that clearly wasn't enough for Yomi. She cracked her knuckled and started muttering under her breath.

"They wanna pick a fight do they? I'll make them with they hadn't touched my Minato." She had an evil look in her eyes that worried Minato, and even though he couldn't catch what she had said, he assumed it had something to do with the sekirei that had captured him.

"Yomi-san, please don't go looking for trouble. I'd be sad if you got hurt trying to get revenge." Hearing that, Yomi looked almost pleased. She stood straighter and gave him dignified look.

"Fine, I won't go destroy those fools." She hesitated for a second and looked away from him, red staining her cheeks. "B-but don't think I'm doing this because you asked, I just don't think now is the right time to crush them." Chuckling, Minato just smiled and nodded. Instead, he turned his attention back to Kuno.

"Are you alright now Kuno?" She nodded back and smiled gently.

"I'm fine Minato-san. Thank you again for today, you know, before we were captured." She hesitated for a second and Minato noticed for the first time that she was still carrying that cat toy he had won her. Suddenly, she stood on her tip toes and gave Minato a quick peck on the cheek. She ran up the stairs, giggling and leaving Minato at the bottom of the stairs stunned and holding his cheek. He felt a dangerous aura and looked back to see both Yomi and Yashima glaring at him.

Together they asked, "Minato (Sama in the case of Yashima) did something else happen that you want to tell us?" Chuckling nervously, Minato stepped backwards into the wall. He was trapped.

"Well, you see..."

**A/N: Okay, I'm gonna end it there. I hope you all liked it and once again thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing. Also thanks to everyone who sent me idea's for stories. I'm going to keep working hard to make this story as good as possible, but when I get close to the end, I'll start writing another one. Ha, I'm just not confident enough in my writing to write more than one story at a time yet. Well, that's all for today.**

**Till next time,**

**CassiusBrutus out!**


	9. An Icy Incident

**A/N: Hey everyone. Sorry I've been gone for so long. I got hit with a freight train of schoolwork and didn't even have time to write at all. Well, I'm back now and with luck I won't have any delays that long again. I want to try and have at least one chapter a week, maybe more and with luck I'll have this story finished in a couple of months and will move on to the next one. My biggest problem with the last delay is that I hate when I'm reading a fic and it doesn't get updated for months at a time, so I don't want to be a writer that does that. Anyway, thanks for sitting through my rant. After all this time, enjoy this slightly lengthened chapter. Enjoy!**

Chapter 9: An Icy Incident

Minato laid in the dark. It was night on the same day that he had gone on his little adventure with Kuno. Like the previous night, Yomi and Yashima were clinging to him in their sleep. It seemed like he'd finally gotten used to sleeping in the same room as pretty girls as his heart no longer beat out of his chest every night. However, he still couldn't sleep, albeit for a different reason than usual. After Kuno had run off earlier, Yomi and Yashima had given him the third degree. He'd managed to dodge the topic until Uzume had gotten home. After they had explained why they were grilling him, she had smiled, but something about it had terrified Minato. In the end, he told them everything that happened. The looks they gave him made him fear for his life. The only way that he had managed to escape alive is by promising that he would take each of them out on a "date" of their own.

So now he was lying in the dark, thinking about how he could make sure that they all had fun. It was driving him mad, but he persevered. In the end, he thought of one idea and drifted off to sleep.

_**oOo **_

When Minato woke up, he extricated himself from between the two girls and tiptoed down the hall. It was still early and the sun had yet to rise. The sound of silence filled the air, but as he walked towards the dining room, he heard the sound of paper brushing against paper. When he opened the door, he saw Kagari sitting off to the side of the dining table reading the morning newspaper and casually sipping a cup of coffee. Minato entered the room and Kagari glanced in his direction and nodded a greeting.

"Morning Sahashi." Minato nodded back and continued into the kitchen. In the kitchen, he found Miya. Man, did she ever sleep? Minato had purposely gotten up early so that he enact the first part of his apology to his sekirei. Miya was wiping down the kitchen counters and didn't even notice when Minato entered. She turned at the sound of a small cough and smiled.

"Well, good morning Minato-san. You're sure up early." Minato chuckled.

"Yeah, I wanted to cook breakfast for everyone. As a thank you to you for letting us stay here and an apology everyone for lying to them." Miya covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled to herself, leaving Minato confused.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea. I'll leave you to it then." With that, she walked out of the kitchen and left Minato to his cooking. He cracked his knuckles and set to work. It had been a while since he'd had to cook, but he was sure his body would remember.

_**oOo**_

Yomi's eyes fluttered open as light leaked through the window. She saw immediately that she was alone in the room and her heart jumped a moment. It was still early. Where could Minato and Yashima have gone? She scowled to herself as she set herself aright. They had better not have gone out without her. She stood and walked down the hall. She opened the door to the dining room and was immediately assaulted by a wonderful smell. In the room, everyone was gathered around the table except Minato. Even Uzume had woken up before her, and that was a rare occasion indeed. It was then that Minato appeared through the kitchen doorway, his arms full of plates carrying a delicious western style breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast. Minato beamed at Yomi as he spotted her standing in the doorway.

"Good morning Yomi-san. Take a seat and I'll grab you a plate." Before she could answer, he disappeared back into the kitchen only to reappear with more plates. When he had served everyone, he grabbed a plate for himself and took a seat at the table. Everyone dug in and sounds of delight followed their first bites. Everyone complimented Minato's cooking and he smiled before saying that it wasn't really that good. He turned to face Yomi, a smile still on his face. He was waiting for her to take a bite. Slowly, she scooped some eggs and put them into her mouth. Taste exploded into her mouth and she smiled happily before readjusting her face. She looked back at him with a lofty look.

"It's okay." Minato just smiled knowingly and nodded. It was infuriating. Why did everything he do get to her?! Her attention jerked back when she realized he had asked her a question.

"What was that?" She asked.

"I wanted to know if you wanted to go somewhere with me today." Her heart lept into her throat. As much as she wanted to jump to respond with a yes, she didn't. She lifted her nose in 'contempt'.

"I don't know... I'm not sure I want to be all alone with a pervert like you." This time Minato didn't give her that knowing smile and scrunched his eyebrows together in what seemed like true disappointment.

"Well, if you really don't want to..." He turned to Uzume. "Well then, how would y-" He started to say before he was cut off by a yell.

"NOOOO!" Yomi yelled. "I'll go, I'll go!" Minato smiled happily and Kagari laughed out loud.

_**oOo**_

Later that day, Minato walked down the road, side by side with Yomi. Yomi made sure to keep at least a meter between them at any given time, but that didn't bother Minato. All he wanted was for her to have fun.

As they walked down the street, Yomi began to wonder where they were going. Minato knew that trying to go somewhere outside the city would be a... poor choice, so he was forced to come up with an idea within the city. He led her down the road until they reached their destination. Yomi gasped when she saw where they were. The Capital Amusement Park. Grinning at her surprise, Minato led Yomi into the park, paying for passes for the both of them. He had been right. He assumed that since none of the sekirei had lived a "normal" life, they would have never been to an amusement park. The look on her face was worth it.

They went inside and Yomi took the lead, her excitement overwhelming her usually cool exterior. She grabbed his hand and ran off, dragging him toward the nearest ride. It was the roller coaster. Minato grimaced, but seeing the enthusiasm on Yomi's face, he knew that he would have to put up with it.

After the ride, Minato stumbled down the path, feeling a little green. Yomi didn't even seem to notice and dragged him to the next ride.

_**oOo**_

After dragging Minato on ride after ride for over an hour, she finally seemed to tire out. They were sitting side by side on a bench, eating out of a small lunchbox Minato had prepared before they had left. He smiled and closed his eyes, leaning back. He could hear Yomi wolfing down the food, but suddenly there was a pause. When Minato opened his eyes, he saw Yomi looking at him intently. Before he could voice a question however, she raised a bite of food and held her hand under. Minato blushed when he realized what she was doing.

"W-w-what are you doing Yomi-san?" Her face turned redder by the second, but she still looked him in the eye.

"Don't get the wrong idea! This is to repay you for taking me here! Now open your mouth and say ahhh!" Before he could respond though, she shoved the mouthful of food at him and force fed him. She immediately looked away and devoured the rest of the lunchbox, pointedly not looking in Minato's direction. Minato choked down the food and waited until she finished, his previously relaxed feeling gone. When she finished, they sat in awkward silence.

After sitting awkwardly for several moments, Minato decided to break the silence. He stood and held out his hand toward Yomi.

"Well then, shall we go?" Yomi stood and walked past him, ignoring Minato's outstretched hand. Minato sighed to himself and followed. They walked around the park, but Yomi's previously excited attitude was subdued. She didn't lead him to any rides, but instead toward the park at the edge of the amusement park.

Minato followed Yomi into the clearing. It was a large clearing, the green grass waving with each slight gust of wind. The sun gleamed off the pond in the center of the park. They were alone. Yomi walked to the shore of the pond and crouched on the ground. Minato stood behind her as she sat in silence. When she finally spoke, she didn't look up and her voice was quiet.

"I saw this place on the map. It's beautiful." She her head to look back at Minato. She smiled softly and Minato's heart jumped. The slight gusts of wind brushed her hair. She gleam reflected off the pond and lit up her face. It was her that looked beautiful. She stood up and planted herself in front of Minato. He hesitated, unsure how to respond to this new side to her. Yomi reached forward and placed her hand on Minato's cheek.

"Thank you for bringing me here today. I want to show you my thanks." She blushed a little and leaned forward, bringing her face closer. Minato's heart was beating a mile a minute. It was beating so fast he thought it was about to explode out of his chest. Just as her lips were about to come in contact with his however, something familiar caught his eye. He shifted and looked behind a confused Yomi. A figure in a white dress sat by the edge of the pond, watching them with a blank look on her face. She was familiar for some reason. Minato struggled to place the face, then when he saw the red tattoo on her head, it hit him. What was her name though. Right Akitsu! Yomi spun around after seeing the shock on Minato's face. Seeing the Akitsu, She stepped in front of Minato and summoned her scythe. She stood in front Minato, ready to defend him. Akitsu made no move however. She just sat by the shore, her face expressionless. Upon closer inspection, Minato saw that her clothes and face were both darkened with grime. She had clearly been outside for days. Ignoring Yomi's squeak of protest, he stepped forward.

"What are you doing here?" They waited while she stared blankly at him for 1 minute. Then 2. Finally Akitsu spoke out in a soft voice.

"I don't have anywhere else to go." Minato frowned. What happened to her ashikabi? There was no way that he would just let her go.

"Why aren't you with your ashikabi?" This time she answered quicker, though still not immediately.

"I don't have an ashikabi. I am broken. Mikogami-san took me in despite this, but I failed him and he cast me out." Beside him, Yomi gasped at the thought of being cast out and she gripped the back of Minato's sleeve as if to make sure that he was still there. Minato was enraged. Why would anyone abandon their sekirei?! He said as much out loud.

Akitsu looked a little sad before answering. "Like I said, I am broken. I can never have my own ashikabi." Thinking about all his sekirei, that one statement broke his heart. She would never feel the bond that he felt with his sekirei. He took a deep breath.

"Well... If you'd like, you can come with me. We have room in our family for one more if you want." Yomi squeaked in indignation and started to complain when Minato gave her a steady look that said to back down. She did and stood back, a pout on her face. Minato turned back to Akitsu, his cheeks stained red as he remembered what he had just said. Akitsu just stared back at him, no expression. After a while, Minato realized that she wasn't going to answer. He shrugged and turned to walk away.

"If you change your mind, you're always welcome." As he walked away beside Yomi, he could feel Akitsu's gaze boring into his back.

_**oOo**_

After Minato had left the clearing, he let out a sigh. It was too bad really. He felt bad that he couldn't help her, but you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped. He turned to see Yomi standing behind him, a cute pout still on her face. He blinked several times in confusion before she explained.

"You were supposed to be out with me, but it turned into something all about that woman." Minato realized that while talking with Akitsu, he had completely ignored Akitsu. He apologized profusely and after a time, she nodded, accepting his apology. Before she could say anything in response though, a thick mist suddenly rose up around them. Yomi put herself on guard and summoned her scythe when she heard a laughing voice through the thick fog.

"Show yourself!" She called out. Her response was more laughter. She tensed and a blade appeared through the mist and jabbed at her. She deflected it and swung her scythe in a wide arc, cutting a thick path through the fog. The tunnel quickly filled back in with mist and there was more laughter.

"Hahaha. We finally find you and you don't even put up a fight? And where is #95? I wanted to get revenge on her too." Out of the mist stepped a familiar form. Sekirei #65, Taki. Yomi scowled at the woman and stood protectively in front of Minato. From the side, a blade flashed and cut at her. Instinctively, she lifted her weapon and diverted the blow. It shifted it's path and cut a swath in her dress. A growl came from Yomi's throat and she turned a gaze full of killing intent on the girl in a kimono who had just appeared beside Taki.

"You'll pay for that!" She launched herself forward at the two sekirei, but a wall of fog sprung up in the way, obscuring her vision. Enraged, Yomi swung her scythe blowing a tunnel in the fog, but they were gone. She yelled in anger and swung wildly, blasting holes through the fog and destroying the landscape around her.

When she calmed down, she slowed and stopped swinging. She waited, barely restraining herself. After a moment, Himeko walked through the fog. She shot forward and sliced her wide crescent blade. Yomi lept back, barely dodging and swung her scythe in a wide arc. Himeko dove to the side and continued her attack. Minato could only watch as they moved at speeds that he could barely even see. They sprung around the ground and dove through the air, exchanging blows and trading wounds.

Suddenly, Minato felt a prick at the back of his neck and heard a voice call out, "Stand down or your ashikabi will get it!" Yomi jerked her head in the direction of the voice and saw Taki standing behind Minato, her hand on his neck. She froze and a blade appeared at her throat. Yomi glared daggers at Taki.

"Let him go you coward!" Taki laughed a cold laugh that cut through the air like a knife.

"I don't know... He cause Himeko and I to be punished... Plus if we get rid of him, then it'll take out the rest of his sekirei too." She paused and seemed to think for a moment before smiling a cold smile. "No, I think I'll just remove him from the equation." She drew back her hand to swing at the back of his neck in a killing blow. Minato closed his eyes and waited for what would come.

The sound of flesh being pierced cut through the air. A scream rang out and Minato looked behind him to see Taki standing hunched over. A shard of ice pierced her hand and blood was spilling out of the space. To his left, Minato saw Akitsu standing with chunks of ice floating around her in circles. Taki stared at her in disbelief.

"You bitch! How dare you do this!" Akitsu only stared at her without responding. Her focus gone, the mist began to fade. Seeing the tables turned, Yomi cut at Himeko who launched backwards. She stared at Taki with a look of worry on her face. Taki let out a scream of frustration and called up a small wall of fog between her and Minato. Yomi and Akitsu both appeared by Minato's side, but when the fog faded, the other sekirei were gone.

The rush of adrenaline gone, Minato sagged and almost fell to the ground. That had been a close call. If Akitsu hadn't arrived at that moment, he could very well be dead. That reminded him, he turned to face Akitsu, who was standing beside him and looking at him with her trademark blank look.

"Thank you Akitsu-san. If you hadn't come at that moment we would have been in trouble." Her eyes half closed, Akitsu stared back.

"I have decided to go with you." She leaned forward as if to kiss him, but hesitated. It wouldn't do anything, but the kiss was a sort of symbol of the pact between a sekirei and ashikabi. He knew that she hesitated because she didn't see herself as having worth. He decided to meet her half way. He lowered his head and completed the kiss, his cheeks flaming red. Yomi let out an indignant squeak and Akitsu's eyes shot open in surprise. It was the first real expression that Minato had seen on her. There was no flash of light, but for some reason, Minato still felt a connection.

When they separated, Akitsu said, "Though I am broken, for as long as you wish it, sekirei #7 is yours." Minato smiled at her.

"Well then, let's show you your new home." As he turned to leave, he felt something soft press against his arm. He looked down to see Yomi latched onto him. She looked away, blushing.

"Don't forget that for today you are mine." At the same time, he felt a similar pressure on his other arm and saw Akitsu doing the same thing while showing no embarrassment at all.

"Is this something that you will expect of me Master?" From his other side, Yomi growled at Akitsu and all Minato could do was groan. It looked like things were going to get even more interesting.

**A/N: Okay thank you for reading, I hope you liked it. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter because it has my favorite tsundere Yomi showing her cute side and the always great expressionless Akitsu. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last for chapters for me and to those who sent me messages to make sure I was still alive. You know who you are. Anyway, the next addition to the harem is Akitsu, so the number grows once more. The gathering of sekirei will be coming to a close in the next few chapters and the plot will move on! Anyway, please, please, please review. I can't improve without feedback and reviews are the lifeblood of writers. It gives me that little extra push to keep going when I feel a block. Sorry for the wait, but I hope that I can make up for it. Thanks again all.**

**Till next time,**

**CassiusBrutus Out!**


	10. A New Flame

**A/N: New chapter here! I little present to celebrate the end of finals. I meant to have this posted on saturday, but there were extenuating circumstances. Now, Enjoy!**

Chapter 10: A New Flame

The sun was beginning to set as Minato walked down the street in the direction of Maison Izumo. To his left walked Yomi, and on the right was Akitsu. The aura that could be felt was tense to say the least. They walked in silence. That silence was broken however, when the sound of machinery cut through the air. A fleet of helicopters swarmed above them, heading in a variety of directions. Minato stared after them, wondering what could possibly be going on. Those didn't look like military choppers.

Shortly after, there was a clatter behind them. A squad of men dressed in combat regalia was sprinting down a side road that they had just passed. Minato could feel the two sekirei around him tensing, as if ready for a battle.

"What's wrong?" He asked. Akitsu was silent and Yomi waited for several moments before answering.

"Something's going on. We should hurry home." With a nod, they set off at a quicker pace.

**oOo**

As soon as they walked in the door, Minato was caught in a barrage of bodies. He was knocked off his feet and out of the corner of his eye he saw Uzume standing over the pile of people. After the people on top of him, Kuno, Ku, and Yashima, got off, he asked what was going on.

Uzume led them into the dining room and said, "It'll be easier to just show you." The T.V showed soldiers and helicopters just like Minato had seen on the way home. The video was being shot from a news chopper and there was a clear view of the city. The soldiers were forming a circle around the city, cutting off all exits and the sky was filled with helicopters. Suddenly, the television went static, and the scene was replaced with a familiar face. Minaka Hiroto.

"Attention citizens of the capital. As you all know, I am Minaka Hiroto. I am the chairman of MBI and I would like to inform you all that we have bought out all Shinto Teito stocks and are in control of the entire city. Do not worry however, as this will not affect your lives in any way. The capital is going to be closed off and no one is going to be allowed to enter or exit for a short time. It is our request that everyone return to your homes today while the MBI security forces secure the streets." He cackled a laugh and Minato felt a shiver running down his spine. "If you are found on the street at this time, you will be dealt with accordingly." He laughed again and his face disappeared from the screen, the helicopter shot of the city returning. Uzume placed her hand on Minato's shoulder.

"That's been airing on loop for the last couple of hours. When you took so long returning we got worried. That and we didn't know what would happen in you were attacked with only Yomi-san pro...tecting..." She trailed off as she finally noticed Akitsu standing beside Minato. She stood with her usual demeanor and everyone in the room seemed to jump at the same time. Uzume and Kuno both stepped in front of Minato while Yashima stood confused and Ku latched onto his leg. Yomi stepped in their way and Uzume's eyebrows raised slowly. Minato also stepped between them and stood in front of Akitsu.

"Akitsu-san has decided to side with us, so please treat her like you would anyone else." Kuno visibly loosened, but still stayed on guard, remembering the battle for Ku a not so long ago. Yashima nodded, not knowing why the others were hostile. Uzume merely shrugged her shoulders and placed her arm around Minato.

She placed a finger under his chin before saying, "Well now. Getting the sekirei of another ashikabi to join us. Aren't we the lady killer?" Before Minato could respond however, she gave him a peck on the cheek and traipsed up the stairs before giving an overly dramatic sigh.

"I suppose that's what I deserve for falling for a man like you." With a giggle and a wink she hopped up that stairs and out of sight. Minato stood, stunned until he felt another pair of lips on his cheek. He jumped back and saw Akitsu tilting her head quizzically.

"W-what are you doing?!" His faced was burning hot, but she kept the same icy cool look as always, not showing any sign of embarrassment.

"Am I not expected to do that as well master?" Minato sputtered while Akitsu stood with her head slightly cocked as if she was confused. Before he could answer, he was dragged upstairs by a grumbling Yomi.

**oOo**

When opened his eyes the next morning he felt the now familiar warmth of Yomi and Yashima beside him. He slowly removed himself so as not to disturb their sleep and went downstairs and into the dining room, much like he had done the previous morning. Also like yesterday, he found Kagari down there reading a paper and drinking a cup of coffee. After Minato took a seat at the table and turned on the T.V, Kagari glanced up.

"Good morning Sahashi." Minato nodded a greeting back and turned his attention to the television. He flipped through the channels, but every channel was the same as yesterday. MBI's message to the capital. Sighing, Minato turned off the T.V and sat in silence. After a moment, he realized that he that he had never had an extended conversation with Kagari-san.

"Soooooooooo. How did you come to live here at Maison Izumo?" There was no answer. Eventually, the paper shifted down just a tad and Kagari eyed him as if to say 'Really?' With a sigh, he lowered the paper and leaned back on his haunches.

"Eeeermm. It really wasn't that dissimilar from how you did. I needed a place to stay and Miya was kind enough to give me a home." Minato felt like he was deliberately being vague, but he didn't want to seem pushy, so he let it go. This time it was Kagari's turn to ask a question.

"I have a question for you Sahashi. What do all these girls see in you that make them wanna be your sekirei? You don't seem particularly special to me..." Ouch. That stung, but Minato couldn't really argue with him. He voiced as much.

With a shrug he said, "To be honest, I don't really know. I think that they're all so wonderful and I don't know what I've done to deserve them all, but at this point I just want to do anything I can to make them happy." He smiled and chuckled to himself. Kagari smirked a little and nodded knowingly. He stood and walked out the door.

Before he left though, over his shoulder he said, "I think I get it now. I've gotta go to work now, but we should talk again in the future. See ya Sahashi." Minato was confused to say the least. He had only said one sentence and Kagari-san had understood?

While he was lost in thought, a pair of arms wrapped around his neck and a chin rested on his shoulder before a voice asked, "What are you thinking about?" Minato would have jumped if the weight on him wasn't holding him down. He looked out the corner of his eye to see Uzume's smiling face.

Before he could answer though, she continued, "Thinking about where you're gonna take me out maybe?" She purred into his ear. "Although, we could probably just stay in~" Minato felt the blood rushing to his face and his throat tightened. He heard Uzume sigh in regret and the weight was removed from his shoulders as she took a seat beside him when the other sekirei in the house entered the dining room. There was a chorus of good mornings and Miya came out of the kitchen and served breakfast. The meal passed in silence until a sound chimed out. It was Minato's phone. He flicked it open and read the message.

_Hello to all ashikabi! I hope that you've had fun since the game has started and I'm sure that you have seen that the capital has been closed off. The reason for this is that the second round of The Sekirei Plan has begun. That means that only 10% of the sekirei are unwinged, so get out there and find them! The game is slowly making it's way toward the end, and I so look forward to seeing how amusing all of you will make it to watch._

_Your ever delighted chairman,_

_ Minaka Hiroto_

Minato's eyebrows scrunched together. The second round? What was that supposed to mean? He assumed that the others would know.

"What is the second round supposed to mean?" His sekirei each shared a glance before Uzume spoke up.

"The sekirei plan is in four stages. The first round was about sekirei finding their ashikabi. The second round is where the capital is sealed and the last few sekirei are winged. Sekirei battles will probably become more and more common throughout the city in the coming days." Minato swallowed at the thought of everyone becoming involved in battles.

"Why would you all need to battle? What is this ridiculous game about anyway?" This time it was Yomi who spoke.

"We fight because it is what the chairman told us we need to do. We fight until there is only one left and the last sekirei gets to ascend to the higher place above and stay with their ashikabi forever." He let that sink in. They would have to fight regardless of what he thought. Then another thought hit him. What if the only ones left were his sekirei?

"What if you guys are the only ones left in the end? Will you have to fight each other?" He was answered with silence. Everyone was pointedly looking away. Well, everyone except for Ku, who didn't seem to know what they were talking about, and Akitsu, was looking straight at him with her usual look. There seemed to be a tinge of sadness to it this time. She answered simply.

"Yes." Minato refused to believe that that would be it. That there was nothing he could do.

"No. I won't accept that. We've become a family and I won't believe that you will have to fight. I'll find some other way before it comes down to that!" His statement was met with sad smiles. Ku wrapped her arms around Minato and cried out.

"Onii-chan can do! You'll make sure that we can all be together forever!" Everyone around the table burst into laughter, happy that Ku had broken the tense moment with her childish excitement. When they all settled down, a light chuckle came from the doorway. Everyone turned to see Kagari standing in the doorway.

"Hahaha. Maybe you will be able to keep everyone together at that." Miya strolled out of the kitchen and brought out a cup of coffee to Kagari and he accepted it with a thanks.

"Weren't you going to work Kagari-san?" Minato asked. Kagari chuckled again and looked at Minato.

"They didn't need me today. So Sahashi, why don't we go for a walk? Get to know each other a little better." There was a small outcry from the gathered sekirei. Everyone objected, with the exception of Uzume, on the grounds that it was dangerous without a sekirei around. All Kagari did was laugh.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine. I can take care of myself, and I could probably extend that protection to Sahashi." He jerked his head in the direction of the door. "Let's go."

**oOo**

**Earlier:**

Takami Sahashi sat in her car early in the morning. She was waiting for someone. While she waited, she glanced around her and scanned the area outside the black sedan. She was in a residential area at no where in particular in town. As time passed, she glanced at her watch and patiently waited for the other party to show. Suddenly, a shadow fell over the car and with a light thud, a figure dressed in all black landed lightly on the ground. Takami opened the door and stood in front of the figure in black.

"Homura." The figure looked up, his silver hair glinting in the sunlight. His face was obscured by the same black cloth that covered the rest of his body. His eyes narrowed as he studied her.

"Why did you call me out here today Takami?" He crossed his arms in front of himself.

"You know that we've reached the second stage of the sekirei plan. That means that there are only about 10 sekirei left unwinged, including you. For the first stage I asked you to protect the unwinged sekirei and you did that very well, but that time is coming to and end." Homura grunted.

"It's not like that matters anyway. In the past, you said that because of my nature, I might not even be able to react to an ashikabi, so I guess that I'll still be the guardian sekirei even when there is nothing left to guard." Takami listened to him and nodded knowingly.

"I expected you to say something like that. Which brings me to my next point. I have a favor to ask you."

"And what might that be?" Takami waited in silence for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to word her request.

"As you know, there are 4 major players in this game. The ashikabi of the East Higa Izumi, the ashikabi of the south Hayato Mikogami, the ashikabi of the west Sanada Nishi, and the ashikabi of the north, Minato Sahashi. In the coming battles, there will be danger and there will more than likely be casualties." She growled to herself. "It's this ridiculous game that Minaka devised. Regardless of that, the favor I have to ask you is a personal one. You're duty is coming to an end, so I want you to change your focus." Homura waited for her to continue, but she waited until he was giving her his complete attention. Takami placed her hand on Homura's shoulder.

"I want you to protect my son."

**A/N: And there you have it. Sorry to leave it like that, but I felt that this was the cleanest place to end the chapter. Thank you all for your reviews, and here are some answers to some questions and comments. To Kaazmiz, Thanks for the comments and actually I was really embarrassed of that mistake. I read through this chapter twice after I finished and I had a friend proof it, but neither of us caught it. Then the moment I posted it, I went "Crap!" Anyway, hey if anyone is willing to beta for me, send me a message. Someone with the goal of improving the chapter would be great and hey, you'd get a sneak peek at each chapter. This chapter signified the ending of the harem growth. I will NOT be adding Karasuba, though I am contemplating a Discipline Squad story next. Anyway, I hope you all like it so please Read and Review. As much as I love praise, I wanna hear your opinions about how you think the story should go and any characters that should make a guest appearance. Regardless, thanks again for reading, expect the next chapter to be out soon!**

**Till next time,**

**CassiusBrutus out!**


	11. Embers

**A/N: Next chapter. A special shout out to animemonk for agreeing to beta for me. This chapter is short, but I will try to get the next one up really soon. Now, Enjoy!**

Chapter 11: Embers

**The Present:**

Dressed in his usual jacket and jeans, Minato walked side by side down the road with Kagari. Kagari was wearing a white dress shirt and black slacks, like he wore when he left for work. Though he said that he wanted to get to know each other better, Kagari hadn't said a word and the only sound that could be heard was the thud of shoes connecting with the street. Though people could be heard in the distance, the street they were on was devoid of life. Even though he didn't quite get it, Minato found that the silence was somewhat...comfortable. And so they walked through the streets, not speaking a word.

Eventually, they came upon one of the main streets and had to make their way through the clamoring crowds until Kagari took an abrupt turn into a small cafe. As they walked in, the staff seemed to recognize him and he didn't even hesitate to take a seat. Minato followed suit. Minato glanced around the cafe while they waited for a waitress. It was a warmly lit place and there was a soft buzz of conversation emanating from the few other people there. Minato finally decided to break the silence that had followed them since they had left Maison Izumo.

"So, do they know you here?" Kagari nodded, a soft smile on his face.

"Yeah, I come here after work pretty often." As he spoke, a pretty waitress came up to the table and set down two cups of coffee. As she left, she gave a wink to Kagari. He shot her a dashing grin and she scurried off, her face a fiery red. When he turned back to Minato though, his face was dead serious.

"Sahashi, I have a question I need to ask you. The other day, you were kidnapped correct." He waited for Minato to give confirmation before he continued. "Do you know who the ashikabi was of the sekirei that kidnapped you were?" Minato sat quietly while he searched his mind for the info.

"I think that they mentioned someone... Miko... Mikogami? Something like that?" Kagari's face darkened. He lifted his coffee to his lips and started muttering to himself. All Minato caught was '….Tougher than I thought...'

"What was that?" Minato asked, but Kagari just shook his head.

"Nothing. Anyway, didn't Akitsu used to be his sekirei?" After a nod from Minato he said, "Are you sure you can trust her? She might be tricking you." A sudden silence draped over the pair of them like a heavy curtain. It wasn't however, a comfortable silence like earlier. This silence left the air thick and heavy. In time, Minato shook his head.

"No. She saved my life and fought her former allies for my sake. I trust her with my life." Kagari looked into Minato's eyes. Those eyes that normally were filled with uncertainty and self doubt held nothing but confidence in his statement. He was sure of himself. Kagari nodded.

"Be that as it may, you will need to be careful. Mikogami is one of the four major ashikabi." Minato raised his eyebrows, confused.

"The four major ashikabi?" Kagari leaned back in his seat and sipped his coffee.

"Most ashikabi only have one sekirei. The more sekirei that an ashikabi has, the more powerful that ashikabi." Minato nodded in understanding. That made sense he supposed. "There are four ashikabi that are considered the strongest. In the east segment of the city is a man named Higa. In the south is Mikogami and in the west is an ashikabi, Sanada Nishi."

"And the north?" Kagari raised an eyebrow as if to say 'really?' Minato noticed that he seemed to do that a lot. The look on Minato's face showed that he still didn't understand, so Kagari just sighed and answered.

"The ashikabi of the north is you." Minato sputtered. Kagari grabbed a napkin and wiped off the coffee that had just been projected onto his face while Minato gathered his thoughts.

"ME?!" He nearly shouted, still astonished even after calming down. "Why me?" Again, Kagari gave him the look.

"Obviously it would be you. How many sekirei do you have? 6? That's way more than the average ashikabi. In addition, the strength of an ashikabi, as well as a sekirei, is affected by how close a bond an ashikabi shares with their sekirei. You seem to have a knack for forming a close bond with your sekirei in a short amount of time." After his explanation, he let Minato digest this new information.

After a time, Minato finally nodded and Kagari continued. "Anyway, back to my point. As one of the main sources of power in this-" His voice turned venomous, "-game, you are likely to be a target. I'm just warning you to watch your back." His eyes were fierce, and Minato felt like there was some reason other than friendly concern that he was saying this.

"Kagari-san, I have to ask. How do you know all this? I don't understand." Kagari blinked several times. He seemed to be taken aback by the question. He clearly didn't expect it.

"I...ugh..." He seemed to hesitate. "Lets just say that I have a connection with someone involved in the project." Minato almost jumped at that revelation.

"Who?"

"Ah, I shouldn't say. It's not my place to reveal their identity." At the refusal, Minato scrunched up his eyebrows in a pout, a face that he did not make often, or ever really. Kagari felt his heart skip a beat. What was that? He shook his head and climbed to his feet. Minato followed suit.

"That's it, so lets head back now before your sekirei decide to come find you." He laughed. It was a crisp, clear laugh. Minato laughed as well and together they left the restaurant. On the way out, Kagari nodded to the waitress who waved him out.

Once they were out on the street, they moved to make their way back to Maison Izumo. As they walked down the now decidedly less packed streets, they sank into the same comfortable silence that they had been in earlier. Though now, the silence felt a little tense.

There was a cry when Minato, who had been wrapped up in his own thoughts, crashed into someone, knocking them both from their feet. When he looked up, he saw Kagari looking down at him in confusion and an all too familiar figure on the ground across from him, rubbing her back.

"Watch where you're go-" Sekirei #65, Taki froze when she spotted the person who she had collided with. Unintentionally, she flinched, remembering the past few times she'd encountered Minato. She gripped her injured hand and sat, frozen. After a few moments however, she realized that she wasn't under attack and looked around to see none of Minato's familiar sekirei around him. She grinned evilly.

"Well now, don't have any of you're little sekirei to protect you this time?" She chuckled and Minato felt his heart sink. She slowly stood, but before she could do anything thing, Minato jumped to his feet, grabbed Kagari's hand and ran.

They bolted down the street, weaving through people and ducking down as many side allies as they could. They ducked into a side street and stopped. Minato was breathing heavily, but Kagari didn't seem to be out of breath at all.

Just when Minato thought that they had gotten away, a figure stepped into the opening of the ally. Minato turned to run again, but to his remorse, he realized that the street he had turned on was a dead end. Ironic that. A dead end. In a safer situation he would have laughed, but as it was, he stepped in front of Kagari and lifted his hands in fists.

"I'll hold her off, go get help!" Kagari felt a rush of admiration for the boy. Even though his hands were trembling, he was willing to stand up to a sekirei, even though it almost surely would cost him his life. Taki scoffed.

"Oh, how noble! Don't worry though, I'll take care of you afterwords." She voiced to Kagari. Minato lifted his shaking fists higher and made a move to charge. Out of nowhere though, a felt a flash of pain, and his limbs lost all strength.

As he fell to the ground he heard, "You did well, but I'll handle this." Just before he hit the ground, everything went dark.

Taki watched as Minato fell unconscious with a look of horror on her face. Behind Minato, Kagari was standing, his hands crossed across his chest in contempt. His eyes showed a distinct lack of interest in her that was unnerving. She steeled herself.

"Who do you think you are to think that you can challenge me?" Mist began to rise out of nowhere. Kagari maintained a look of disinterest however. The mist engulfed them all, cutting off any sight. And still Kagari stood, his arms across his chest. Out of the mist, a sweeping kick appeared, aimed at Kagari's head. With a quick move, he ducked under the foot and from his hand, a line of flame shot out, catching the hem of Taki's dress ablaze. She jumped back and the mist disappeared quickly, showing her shock.

"You? You're a sekirei?!" When Kagari nodded, she cried out, "Dammit!" and she slammed her hands onto her dress to smother the flames and cried out in frustration. She jumped back and out of the ally-way. In a moment, she was out of sight.

**oOo**

When Minato opened his eyes he saw the familiar brown roof of Maison Izumo. He blinked several times, trying to remember what had happened. He remembered being cornered by Taki and then nothing. Something had happened in between then and now, but he wasn't sure what. As he moved to sit, he heard a shuffling from across the room and a pair of figures piled on top of him. It was Ku and Kuno.

"Minato! We were so worried! What happened? Kagari-san wouldn't tell us anything!" Kuno was clinging to his chest and her worry showed when Minato saw the tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. Ku was also clinging to one of his legs, her emotions in a similar state. He smiled soothingly at her and placed a hand on her head.

"I'm not quite sure what happened, but everything's fine right? Don't worry." As the words left his mouth, Kuno vehemently shook her head.

"Don't tell me not to worry! You were in danger, of course I'd worry about you!" She hugged him tighter before letting go and standing up to go and let everyone else know that he was awake. When she returned, she was followed by every other sekirei that lived at Maison Izumo. They all gathered around him and he felt a warm and comfortable aura from them all. Kuno looking relieved now that she knew he was okay. Yashima didn't even pretend to hide her excitement that she was awake. Yomi was barely hiding her worry for him behind a veil of disinterest and Uzume crouched down beside him, giving him a look that was a mixture of worry, relieve and interest. Akitsu also crouched close beside him, but her face showed the same lack of emotion as always. Minato thought that he detected a hint of worry as well, and that warmed his heart somewhat.

In the doorway, he spotted Kagari leaning against the doorway, his arms folded across his chest and a smirk on his face. Minato opened his mouth to ask a question, but Kagari, a smile still on his face, placed a finger over his lips in a 'Shh' gesture.

Minato nodded and with a light chuckle, Kagari sauntered away.

**A/N: Alright all, this is disappointingly short, but I hope you don't hold it against me. Now I have to address a few things brought up. Last chapter I didn't intend for it to come across that Takami asked Kagari to wing himself to Minato. It was just she was asking him to protect him. Now, thanks again to everyone who has read and reviewed, honestly, it makes me feel so humble that you like it and have given a little time to let me know what you think. To anyone that has read it, but decided not to review. That's fine as well, just remember, your review might be the one that pushed me to get the chapter done a day early, or push my way through a block. Regardless, thank you for reading and I hope that you continue to like it.**

**Till next time,**

**CassiusBrutus out!**


	12. Getting Burned

**A/N: Hey y'all, sorry for the delay, but I've been shut down for a while. I've got the next chapter done already though, so expect it up in the next 2 to 3 days. Maybe even tomorrow. Anyway, read on!**

Chapter 12: Getting Burned

In the days after Minato's incident with Kagari, nothing of interest seemed to happen. The days passed in a daze. In time, a full week passed without incident. The only thing that was different was that Kagari seemed to be spending more time at Maison Izumo and more time around Minato. He had to admit that once he got to talking to him, he really enjoyed Kagari's company. He was a smart and had an interesting sense of humor. The girls had all started acting strangely as well. Yomi seemed to get angry at him all the time now and Yashima and Kuno had become increasingly clingy. The only ones acting normal were Uzume and Akitsu.

It was like that that the days passed. One week after he woke up after being attacked, he found himself walking down the road with Kagari again. It was their turn to get the groceries. They were on their way back, their arms laden with groceries. Their conversation was light, but something was itching at the back of Minato's mind.

"Kagari-san, I haven't asked till now, but what happened that time in the alleyway?" Kagari, not expecting their that question up front hesitated and looked around, gathering his thoughts.

"I'm not quite sure... When that sekirei attacked us, something knocked you out and another one came out of no where and chased her off. I didn't get a good look at him before he disappeared. I carried you back and then you woke up." He finished, but Minato felt like he wasn't telling him everything. The way he hesitated. With a sigh, Minato decided to drop it. He didn't want to push him to tell what he didn't want to. Minato was sure that he'd tell when he was ready.

Their conversation came to an end when they arrived back home. They were met at the door by Miya, who took their groceries to start cooking dinner. Minato and Kagari went into the dining room to find all of the residents gathered. They welcomed the newcomers and they all sat quietly around the table. Everyone sat in silence until there was a sudden beeping. It was Minato's phone. He groaned. He hadn't gotten a good, safe message on this phone since the sekirei plan started. Everyone in the room gathered around as he flipped it open and read the message.

_Greeting all ashikabi~. I see that you have all been working hard to gather that last remaining sekirei, and it is with great enthusiasm that I tell you that there is only one left! Now, I won't tell you where they are, but here are a few hints! You have to careful around them or things might get a little bit heated! They are a little bit dark, but you have to remember that they have a silver lining. I hope that helps, now get out there and find this last lonely sekirei so we can get on with the game!_

_Au revoir,_

_The Chairman, Minaka Hiroto _

There was silence around the table as everyone absorbed the information contained in the message.

"Pffthahahahaha!" Minato jerked his head to the right to see Uzume bursting out in laughter. She clutched her side and laughed out loud. She stopped when a hand collided with her head in a chop. She looked up to see Kagari with a scowl on his face. Seeing the look of absolute dread on his face, she started to laugh again, leaving Minato extremely confused. When she finally quieted, everyone took their seats around the table and Minato asked why Uzume had laughed.

"Oh, I was just amused by The Chairman. Given his personality, I didn't expect he could be coy. It was funny." She chuckled to herself again. "Anyway, Minato are you going to try and wing this last sekirei? Every one that joins us increases the likely hood of you winning you know." She tilted her head to the side, waiting for his response. Minato sighed deeply and thought about that for a moment. Kagari seemed to be extremely interested in his response for some reason.

"I think that it's their choice really. I don't want to force them to join me or anything that wouldn't be right." Out of the corner of his eye, Minato saw Kagari nodding his head. Why did he keep doing that? It's not like this related to him. From Minato's lap, Ku turned her head up and looked into his eyes.

"But Onii-chan, you saved Ku. What if this person is in trouble too? Won't you save them Onii-chan?" Minato chuckled and placed a hand on Ku's head.

"Of course I will. If they need my help of course they'll get it." Ku smiled happily and wiggled in her seat. A pair of hands slammed onto the table. Kagari jumped to his feet, his cheeks stained red. In a rush, he ran out of the room and Minato heard the front door slam shut. Across the table, Uzume sighed.

"Go on, you know you want to." Minato looked around the table and saw just about everyone was nodding in agreement. His face determined, Minato followed after.

**oOo**

Traffic ebbed and flowed down the street, pulling Kagari with it. He pulled his jacket up around his neck to stave off the chill. He followed the flow of people for a few blocks before turning off into an alley. He leaned against the wall and slumped into a crouch, his hands on his head and his face between his knees.

Goddammit! Why couldn't he seem to act normal around Minato?! What was wrong? Every time they were in the same room, Kagari couldn't focus. He shivered, but not from the cold. There was an answer right in front of him, be he refused to acknowledge it. And so he sat. Alone.

Kagari took a deep breath and his heart finally slowing. Calmer now, Kagari regretted storming out of there and leaving everyone. There was just something that jumped in his chest when Minato was talking about saving that last sekirei. He growled, suddenly angry. Who needed saving anyway?! It wasn't up to him! Looking up, Kagari saw that the streets had cleared and it was starting to get dark. How long had he been gone? 20 minutes? An hour? It didn't matter, they probably weren't looking for him anyway. Kagari sank down until he was sitting on the ground, his legs outstretched in front of him. He leaned his head against the wall of the building. He sighed. What was he going to do? Under his breath, he cursed Takami for asking him this favor.

"Kagari!" Kagari jerked his head up and saw Minato standing in the entrance to the alley. He was breathing hard and sweat streamed down his face. It was like he had been running. He ran over and knelt beside Kagari. He placed his hands on Kagari's shoulders and looked into his eyes. Kagari saw the worry in his eyes.

"Are you all right? Is something wrong? Did something happen?" Kagari felt a tightness in his chest. He pushed Minato off and jumped to his feet, turning his back on Minato.

"I'm fine. Don't bother yourself." Kagari waited in silence. When Minato finally spoke, it was in a whisper.

"I want to bother. You might not feel the same, but I think of you as a friend." Kagari didn't answer. He didn't say that of course he felt the same. He didn't say why he was acting so strange. He didn't even say why he couldn't say anything. He didn't say anything. Minato spoke once more.

"I want to help." That was it. Kagari snapped. He whipped around to face Minato.

"What if I don't want your help?! Did you ever think of that?! WHAT IF YOU'RE THE PROBLEM?!" Kagari shouted, his emotion pouring into every word. Minato flinched in the face of Kagari's rage. Kagari was trembling and Minato saw tears forming in his eyes. He took a step forward and reached his hand out towards Kagari.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Kagari jerked back and flames flashed. Minato cried out in pain, his hands burning. When the flames faded, Minato was holding his hands under his arms. Despite the pain, which was lancing through him in waves, he was looking straight at Kagari, his eyes hard. Kagari's face showed panic. Panic and regret. What had he done?

"No. No no no no." He whispered. In a flash of black and silver, he fled, leaving Minato alone in the dark.

**oOo**

Kagari sat, curled up and alone. It was dark now and no one would find him. He tried to block out his feelings. He tried to shut out the memories. He failed. Tears leaked out of the corners of his closed eyes and trailed down his face. Why? Why had he done that? What came over him? He couldn't do anything now. He was sure to be rejected now. He shivered. Alone. Over the past week, Kagari had spent all the free time he had with Minato, getting to know him, but at the same time watching over him. Making sure that he was safe. He had expected it to be a pain in the ass, but it was... fun... He couldn't explain it. He just enjoyed being around Minato. After that encounter though he wasn't ever going to get things back to the way they were. It was over.

There was a thud and the sound of sliding before a body hit the ground beside him. Kagari looked up and through the tears in his eyes, he could make out the shape of a person sitting next to him. It was Minato. Why was he here? Minato wasn't looking at Kagari though. His hands hung between his knees and he looked up at the sky.

"So, the last one is you huh?" He chuckled a little and Kagari scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion. He didn't say anything though, so Minato continued.

"It's funny. I get what Minaka was talking about now. A little heated. Hah. I get why Uzume laughed now. I suppose that she knew you're a sekirei." His chuckling grew into full blown laughter. His laugh rang out clearly into the dark.

"Why are you here?" Kagari whispered. Minato chuckled again.

"I told you, you're my friend. What kind of friend would I be if I just left you alone in the dark?" Kagari's heart thumped in his chest. He shifted until he was crouching in front of Minato. He grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall. Minato looked back at him, smiling.

"Why does this always happen? What about you does this to me?" Minato's expression changed, showing confusion.

"Does what?" Kagari's eyes jerked open in surprise. How dense was he? Kagari's head sank until it was resting against Minato's chest. He elected to change the subject.

"So you know that I'm the last unwinged sekirei. I'll have you take responsibility for this." Kagari raised his head and looked into Minato's eyes. Minato tilted his head.

"Responsibility? I'll help you find your ashikabi if that's what you mean. You'll still be my friend after that I hope." God, just how stupid was he? Kagari sighed.

"Moron." Minato opened his mouth to object to that, but he was silenced when Kagari pressed their lips together. Kagari's eyes were closed, but Minato's were jerked wide open as he watched his closest male friend kiss him. Bright orange wings sprouted from his back and lit up the night. They flickered like fire and flared up when Kagari deepened the kiss.

When they separated, Kagari stood up, his eyes showing the same flames that had shot from his back just moments before. He smiled. A smile filled with relief, happiness and more than a little embarrassment.

"Allow me to formally introduce myself. Sekirei #6, Homura, is yours to command. Until now I was known as the Sekirei Guardian. When the last of the sekirei were winged I was asked to protect you. I hope you don't mind, but I'll be around for a little while, stupid." Minato smiled back, surprised, but still happy. He scrunched his eyebrows.

"Wait. Asked to protect me? By who?" Kagari flinched, realizing he had said something he shouldn't have.

"Err, it's not my place to say. I'm sure they'll tell you when they're ready." Minato pouted, but in the end nodded. He trusted Kagari... Or was it Homura now?

"Uhh, what do you want me to call you now? Is it Kagari or Homura?" Kagari/Homura chuckled.

"You can call me whatever you want. If it's easier, then you can just keep calling me Kagari. It'd probably be easier for me if you didn't change." Minato breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank god. I would do it, but honestly I think calling you something else would be a pain." They both laughed and Kagari pulled Minato to his feet. He didn't let go of Minato's hand however. He looked into Minato's eyes and Minato looked back, ignoring the pain that flashed from his hands all the way through his body.

"Thank you. I mean it." He whispered. Minato blushed a little, but didn't let go of Kagari's hand either. After a moment, they both let go, their cheeks flushed. Kagari broke the silence.

"Let's go home." He smiled and Minato smiled back. They turned to go. Suddenly, a sound broke the silence. A ringing. Confused, Minato pulled out his phone. It was another message from the chairman.

**A/N: Thanks for reading, and I suppose that I'll stop asking for reviews considering that when I did the amount bombed haha. Anyway I hope you all liked it. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and I really love how it turned out. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me so far and welcome to all new readers. You're all great and I hope that I don't disappoint you in the future.**

**CassiusBrutus out!**


	13. Let the Games Begin

**A/N: I have returned! So sorry for taking so long with this chapter! Now I know not to promise chapters on a specific date because the universe will go "Nope, not happening." Here it is though, my longest chapter yet I believe. Now please, Enjoy!**

Chapter 13: Let the Games Begin

_Attention all ashikabi! It looks like someone moves quickly because the last sekirei has been winged and the second stage of the sekirei plan comes to an end. We now enter stage three, so all ashikabi should be on the lookout. More information will broadcast tomorrow so get ready! I can't wait to see how amusing you all make the rest of the game! _

_Your Chairman,_

_Minaka Hiroto_

Yukari Sahashi flipped her phone closed and sighed. She turned to her partner, her black jacket swishing through the air.

"Sorry Shiina, looks like we were too late." Shiina's head drooped in sadness. Yukari and Shiina had been searching for Ku for the since Yukari called off the meeting with her brother. They'd searched up and down the city and had beaten down more than a few ashikabi, but no luck. And now their search was over. Yukari watched as Shiina slumped his shoulders, his matching black jacket covering part of his face. She placed a hand on his shoulders.

"Don't worry, I'm sure that she's with someone kind who'll protect her." Sniffing, Shiina raised his eyes to her and smiled sadly. He nodded. The two of them moved to leave, but Yukari paused.

"Ahh, Shiina, can we go somewhere tonight? I just realized that we have a date to make up." Shiina looked confused, but in the end he nodded in agreement, his distress and sadness still clear in his lack of speech. Yukari shot him a smile and flipped open her phone.

**oOo**

On the other side of the city, Minato walked home with Kagari. They walked in silence, and there was tension in the air. Tension at what had happened, and tension for what would come. He was curious about what the rest of the game would entail. He supposed that he have to talk with everyone when he got home. Then, something hit him. Minato froze in his tracks, and Kagari walked another dozen steps before he noticed. He turned back, a puzzled look on his face. Minato shuffled nervously in his place before Kagari got impatient.

"What? Spit it out." Minato shuffled again before looking Kagari in the eyes.

"Errm, Kagari? You reacted to me right?" Kagari nodded impatiently before Minato continued. "Does that mean that you're... attracted to me?" Kagari's eyes jerked open in panic and his face flooded red. He hurriedly waved his hands in front of his face in denial.

"No no no!" He shouted. He took a deep breath before speaking again.

"How do I say this? I was... drawn to you? Honestly, I never thought that I would find an ashikabi, and if I did, then I thought they would be female. That fact that I reacted to you is as amazing to me as it is to you. Now my job is to protect you and make sure that you win this game." He smiled. Minato, his confusion remedied, smiled back and moved to continue walking home. As he walked by, Kagari gave him a smack on the back. When Minato turned to glare, Kagari was grinning at him. He strolled ahead, chuckling 'attracted to you? Hahaha' under his breath. Minato gave a mock scowl before following, his fingers folded behind his head and following.

As he walked, he thought about his current life. About all of the sekirei and what they meant to him. He softly chuckled to himself as he considered how far his life had come from his original plan. He had just wanted to go to university and live his life, but now he was wrapped up in this adventure. Wrapped up in his thoughts, the walk back to Maison Izumo passed in only a moment. Yomi met them at the door.

"You get everything figured out Minato?" Minato nodded and smiled, barely holding back a laugh.

"Ahh, yeah." He jerked his head in Kagari's direction. "Say hello to the last sekirei to be winged in this game." Yomi looked confused. She shifted her gaze between Minato and Kagari for several moments. She raised her hand and pointed at Kagari.

"Then that means you... and he...?" She blinked several times, realization hitting her. A single stream of blood dripped from her nose. She cleared her throat, blinking rapidly.

"Right then, you should come and let the others know you're home." Yomi turned and walked down the hall and entered the dining room where everyone apparently still waited. Minato and Kagari shot each other a glance before exploding in laughter and following. When Minato entered the dining room, he found that everyone was still where they were when he had left hours before. Most of them looked at him expectantly. He smiled at them and once again introduced Kagari as his newest sekirei. There was a cry of surprise from almost everyone in the room. The exceptions were Akitsu, who never showed surprise anyway, and Uzume. Uzume just smiled knowingly before standing and slapping Kagari on the back.

"Finally gave in did you? I was waiting for it to happen." She grinned and Minato stared at her.

"You knew? Why didn't you tell me?" She shrugged.

"It wasn't my place." Minato groaned. That wasn't the first time he'd heard that today. When he sighed, Uzume latched onto his arm and whispered sensually into his ear.

"Sorry I didn't tell you. To make it up to you, I'll tell you anything you want to know about me." Minato flushed as Uzume clung to his side. She flinched as a hand collided with the back of her head. She turned to find Kagari looking at her, unamused. He lifted one silver eyebrow.

"If you're quite finished, there's Minato and I aren't done." Chastised, Uzume retook her seat and waited. Minato took out his phone and read the message previously sent to all ashikabi by the Chairman. This time, the reaction was pretty much what he expected. A somber acceptance that it was time to reach the next level of competition. Everyone but Ku, still too young to truly understand the deeper implications of this game, sat silently, wondering what came next. The first to speak up was the usually silent Yashima. She moved beside Minato and wrapped herself around his arm, holding him tight.

"Don't worry Minato-sama, I'll protect you! I'll definitely win this game and we can stay together forever!" Her actions were immediately followed by Akitsu, who copied Yashima's actions and latched onto Minato's other arm. Her face was still as impassive as ever, but there seemed to be a spark in her eye.

"I will protect master." It wasn't an exclamation. It was just a statement of fact. A softness settled on the back of Minato's neck and a pair of arms fell across his chest. Yomi hugged him to her chest.

"Don't get the wrong idea. It would just be inconvenient if you were gone." One by one, all of his sekirei did something similar, with the exception of Kagari who stood off to the side amused, until Minato was invisible under the women. It was then that a sound chimed. The sekirei removed themselves from a gasping Minato, allowing him to reach his phone. Who could possibly be messaging him in the middle of the night? He read the clock on his phone. It was 8. He gulped slowly. Maybe it was the chairman, deciding that waiting until tomorrow would be too boring. Minato flipped open his phone and immediately decided that this worse.

_Yo bro! I'm sure you're still disappointed that we didn't get to meet up the other day, so I'll be showing up in a little! I need to talk with you anyway and after tomorrow I might not be able to contact you for a while so this is my last chance. Anyway, I'll be there in like an hour, so let Kuno-san know that I'll be there too. (You haven't done something stupid to make her dump you have you?)Regardless, can't wait to see you, make sure you have something for me to eat when I get there!_

_Your Amazingly Awesome Sister!_

Minato groaned loudly, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. They all looked at him with concern. He explained.

"My sister is on her way over here... Man, that's just like her. Not giving me any notice or even choice. Just making her own decisions." Kuno smiled almost excitedly. Yukari had been the second person to show her kindness since she'd been released into the game. Looking around, several of his other sekirei had similar looks of excitement on their faces. Then, Minato realized what was going through their minds.

"No no no!" He shouted, his hands out in front of him. "None of you can meet her! Remember, she can't learn about the sekirei plan!" Faces fell as he made his demand. They were clearly disappointed, and Yomi even went to far as to glare at Kuno. He held firm however. Yukari couldn't be allowed to learn about the sekirei plan. Grumbling, Yomi led the other sekirei out of the dining room to let Minato and Yukari prepare for what would surely be a draining encounter.

**oOo**

A short while later, Minato jumped when he heard a knock at the door. Taking a deep breath, he opened it to reveal a grinning Yukari. Minato frowned a little when he saw that she was wearing all black and a matching jacket. That didn't seem like her. He had expected to have her show up in her uniform, or at least something bright. Before he could comment however, Yukari threw her arms around his neck crying out.

"Hey bro! It's been a while." Minato smiled, her bubbly personality infecting him. He froze however when he realized that there was another figure in the doorway. The boy in the doorway bowed before Minato.

"Hello sir, it's nice to meet you." Minato was baffled. Who was this? Before he could ask Yukari though, she cried out again and latched onto Kuno.

"Kuno-chan! I can't believe that you're still here with Minato! I'm sure someone as pretty as you could do so much better." Kuno blushed and started to mumble something in response, but Minato cut her off impatiently.

"Yes, yes. I'm worthless, we all get it. Now, who is this?" Yukari physically flinched at her brother's curt tone. She couldn't remember the last time he had actually acted self confident when speaking with her. She was so surprised that all she could do was stutter out a response.

"Uhh, t-this is Shiina. Can we go inside, I actually do need to talk with you." Minato nodded and led them through the front hall and into the dining room.

As they walked, Yukari, who had regained her cognizant ability, studied the building. It was nice. Nicer than his last place, that was for sure. Minato gave her a seat at the table and sat opposite her. They both sat in the center of the table and Minato waited, staring at her, waiting for her to speak. It was truly unnerving. Where had this new found confidence come from? Shrugging off her discomfort, she decided to voice what she had come to say.

"Look bro, I'm going to be gone for some time and I don't know when I'll be getting back. I just thought that I'd drop by and let you know, that way you don't miss me too much." She winked, putting Minato back on the defensive.

Minato started to sputter out a response, but was interrupted when a voice from the doorway to the kitchen asked, "Does anyone want some tea?" Yukari's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. The person asking the question was a gorgeous brunette in a skin tight pink shirt and equally skin tight jeans. What really caught Yukari's eyes however was her other... assets. Minato seemed to be equally distressed.

"Uzume! Why are you here?" Yukari raised her eyebrows. Uzume? Her brother was on such an intimate level with this beauty that he didn't use honorifics? How had that happened? Yukari pointed a finger at Uzume and stared at her brother.

"Hey bro? Who is this and why are you so close with her?" Minato started to sputter out a response only to be cut short by Uzume. He seemed to have that being done quite frequently of late. Uzume wrapped her arms around Minato's neck, drawing a disgruntled chirp from Kuno, a cry of protest from Minato, and a look of surprise from Yukari.

"Oh, me? I live here with your brother. I suppose you could say that we're pretty close." Yukari's eyes bugged out. What the hell?! How could her idiot brother be this close to one beauty, let alone two?! Minato glared in panic at Uzume. Suddenly, the door to the dining room opened and a little figure poked it's head in.

"Onii-chan? Can Ku come out now?" An adorable little girl with amazing green eyes. There was clatter beside Yukari when Shiina jerked to his feet, surprise mixed with a kind of hesitant jubilation.

"Ku-chan? Is that really you?" Yukari spun in place. Ku-chan? Could this really be the little girl that they had been searching for? The little girl's eyes opened wide. She had a look of disbelief.

"Shiina-nii-san!" She cried out. She sprinted forward and jumped into his arms. Shiina spun the little girl around, holding her close and cooing to her gently. Everyone in the room looked as surprised as Yukari felt. She looked up at Shiina and caught his eye. He smiled widely at her, his joy radiating throughout the room.

"This is her?" Yukari asked. Shiina only nodded, tears starting to fill his eyes. After a second, Yukari realized the implications of this. She swung her gaze back around and stared hard at her brother. Minato flinched at the force of Yukari's gaze. She just looked at him. Things had gotten a lot more complicated.

"I think we need to talk." Minato nodded.

**oOo**

A short time later, Minato and Yukari still sat across from each other, neither sure how to react to the realization that the other was an ashikabi. Ku sat on Shiina's lap happily and Minato smiled, glad that she was glad. It was Yukari that decided to break the silence.

"So... as you've probably guessed, Shiina is my sekirei. I'm going to hazard a guess that Ku-chan there is yours?" Yukari raised an eyebrow when Minato hesitated before nodding.

"Well, yes. That's true, but-"

"She's not the only one." Uzume interjected. She gave a wink and clung to Minato. Yukari nodded slowly. That made sense.

"Damn bro, two sekirei? Not ba-" Yukari didn't even finish her sentence when Uzume exploded in laughter. Yukari reeled back. What the hell? Uzume whispered something to Kuno, who stood and left the room. When Yukari tried to ask what was going on, Uzume just shushed her and told her to wait a moment. Shiina looked on with curiosity while Ku chuckled on his lap.

Less than a minute later, the door to the room opened and Kuno reentered.

"Kuno-chan where did you g-" Yukari yipped when a group of women flowed into the room taking seats around Minato. One in a beautiful and elegant dress approached Yukari and held out her hand. Yukari shook it, feeling dazed. The woman spoke.

"It is nice to meet you. I am sekirei #43, Yomi. I am Minato's partner." With that, she took a seat to Minato's left, close but pointedly not in contact with him. To his right was Kuno and Uzume still had her arms draped around his neck. There was also a woman in a pure white dress with a large tattoo on her forehead and a blank look and another pretty girl with short, light brown hair and pretty grey eyes who smiled adoringly at Minato. Lastly, Yukari noticed a figure leaning against the wall behind Minato. She felt her heart tighten a little and she started to salivate a little. A bishounen! He was gorgeous with his silver hair going perfectly with his white shirt and black pants. Deciding to focus on the sekirei, Yukari refocused her gaze on her older brother, now surrounded by a harem of beautiful women.

"What the hell?" Yukari blurted out before she could stop herself. She hurriedly corrected herself. "Err, what I mean is, what is this? How is this even possible? How do you have this many sekirei?" Minato motioned for her to wait a moment.

"Please, let me introduce you. You know Ku and Uzume, but here is Yomi, Yashima, and Akitsu." He paused for a moment, smiling to himself before continuing. "And I believe that you've already met my first sekirei Kuno" Yukari gasped loudly. Kuno was a sekirei? Her head was spinning. Thinking that he was done, she opened her mouth only to be silence one more time.

"And this is my last sekirei, and the last sekirei to be winged, Kagari." That hit Yukari like a sucker punch. She sputtered. This Bishie was her brother's sekirei.

"But, you're both guys." Both Minato and Kagari sighed and a few of the gathered sekirei chuckled. Minato just waived her off saying that 'It's a long story'. While she was trying to regain her bearings, Minato hit her with a question she didn't come expecting to answer.

"You said that you might be busy for some time. You meant the third stage of the sekirei plan by that right?" All Yukari could do was nod dumbly, not sure what to say. It had never even crossed her mind that Minato might ever be an ashikabi, so she didn't know what to do.

"Then it maybe you should stay here? I could find a room for you if you'd like." A voice rang out from the hall and Miya made her first appearance of the night. Yukari noticed that she was beautiful as well. Good god, was who lived here gorgeous?

"And who are you? You aren't one of my brother's sekirei too are you?" Miya chuckled.

"Goodness no. My name is Miya, I'm the landlady and owner of Maison Izumo." She gave a slight bow and Yukari marveled at how ladylike she was. She considered the offer. She already had an apartment, but it was tempting. She would get to live with her brother again, and by the way Shiina was clinging possessively to Ku, it was obvious that he wanted her to accept. Glancing to the side, she caught sight of Minato's face. He was smiling. He would never admit it, but he really did miss being able to spend time with his sister, and though this perverse game could hardly be counted as quality bonding, it would be something. That sealed it. Yukari bowed to Miya.

"I would love to take you up on your offer. Please take care of me in the future." Shiina and Ku cried out in rejoice and smiles appeared on the faces of several faces across the room, though not all. Obviously Akitsu didn't show outward emotion, but Yomi also didn't smile. She seemed pensive. Unsure how to react to the news those who would in the end would be their enemies living in such close proximity.

The third stage was truly ready to begin.

**A/N: I really hoped you all liked it. Like I said, this is my longest chapter yet and honestly, I still wanted it to be a lot longer. Like twice as long, but I wanted to get this chapter out. It had been too long since my last update so I felt the rush. I feel like several people felt awkward about the last chapter, so I decided that I really needed to clear up that though Kagari will remain a man, this isn't a Yaoi story. It's really too bad because honestly I think that with the exception of this chapter, the last one was my favorite to write. Now to answer a question that I received earlier in regards to needing more single numbers to handle the discipline squad. I firmly believe that the idea that some sekirei (such as Kuno) have no chance at winning the sekirei plan is unfair and ridiculous. I am firmly in the camp that because a sekirei's power grows in proportion to their bond with their ashikabi, so anyone should have the chance to win if they are smart. (Which Minato is very) Don't worry though, I have the entire ending arc planned out already and I think I should warn that though I have stayed pretty consistent with the canon story in regards to the stages and steps, in the later steps I will be diverging. Lastly, thank you all for reading and sorry once again for the delay. I will try to be better in the future.**

**Till next time,**

**CassiusBrutus**


	14. Melting Ice

Chapter 14: Melting Ice

Minato's eyes flickered open. He shivered as a slight chill crossed his body and looked around to find himself alone in his room. He remembered the previous night. Yukari had agreed to stay at Maison Izumo and everyone stayed up talking about what they would do in the future. The next stage was coming after all. In the end, when they went to go to bed, Yukari noticed Yomi and Yashima entering Minato's room. Minato shivered again at the memory of her frantic yelling and rubbed his arm, still sore from her fists slamming into them. In the end, Minato slept alone. Well, mostly alone. He remembered that for some reason or another Shiina had been put in the same room as him. When Minato woke up though, he wasn't there.

Groaning as he stretched, Minato got to his feet and stumbled down the hall and down the stairs. He yawned and opened the door to the dining room to see all the tenants of the house seated around the table eating breakfast. As soon as he entered, Yukari jumped to her feet and hopped over to Minato. Grinning, she grabbed her brother and slammed him into the seat next to her. Minato heard disconcerted mumbling coming from somewhere on the other side of the table, but he didn't catch who said it when Yukari started talking at him.

"Ah man bro, this is a pretty sweet place ya got here. The foods good and the rooms are pretty comfy." She made a coy smile and nudged him in the ribs. "Plus with all these pretty girls. You got a nice setup here don't ya?" Minato's face flushed a little, and he chose to hide his face by chowing down on the breakfast Miya sat in front of him.

Glancing up, Minato scanned the room. Ku and Shiina were playing around on the other side of Yukari and looked to be enjoying each others company. Yashima was gazing at him from the other side of the table, making Minato redden a little once again. To her right, Yomi was calmly eating breakfast, but Minato could see that every few seconds, her eyes flicked over to where he was seated. Directly across from Minato, Uzume was poking fun at Akitsu, clearing trying to draw out a response, but to no avail. Minato chuckled under his breath. He wished Uzume the best of luck with that.

At the head of the table, Miya took her seat and finished up the last of the food on her plate, surveying the table, waiting for anyone to finish so she could either take their plate or get them more. Last, sitting directly to Minato's left was Kuno. She didn't look at Minato while she was eating, but her leg was pressed up against Minato's and she had a small smile on her face. Suddenly, Minato jerked his head side to side, realizing that someone was missing. Just as he was about ask, the person in question walked through the door. Kagari strode in and leaned against the wall across from Minato. Minato raised and eyebrow, silently asking, "Where were you?" Kagari waived off his question though. Minato decided to let it drop. Kagari did like his secrets.

**oOo**

The night before

After the festivities of the night, Kagari donned his black clothing and left Maison Izumo. He jumped and faded into the night. His form blurred into the dark as he jumped from building to building on the way to a meeting. He quickly crossed across the city until he found the place he was looking for. Down in a little park sat a black sedan, waiting for him to arrive. With a soft thud, he landed beside it and the door swung open to reveal a familiar silver haired figure. Takami scooted over and motioned for Kagari to take a seat. He did so. They sat in silence for several moments before Takami exploded in laughter. Kagari flinched sensing what she was laughing about. She snorted and wiped a tear from her eye before speaking.

"Haha, I asked you to protect my son, not get winged by him." Kagari scowled at her.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. We both know that you didn't call me here to poke fun at me for being winged by a man, so what do you want?" Takami's smile dropped and her face suddenly took a serious look.

"You're right, I didn't call you here for that. With you're winging, the second stage is over. You guys have had a fairly peaceful time thus far, but that's over. The game is about to get a lot more organized, and a lot more dangerous." She looked seriously into Kagari's eyes. "I don't think I have to tell you this, but protect Minato." Kagari nodded.

"Of course. I won't let anything happen to him." Takami nodded and started palming all around where she was seated until she found what she was looking for. She pulled out a small rectangular box and handed it to Kagari.

"Take care of this. Don't open it now, but you'll need this in the future. It was dangerous to sneak this out, but with luck it will prove useful. " As soon as it landed in Kagari's hand, he felt a thumping. Almost a heartbeat coming from the box. It resounded with something deep inside him. Kagari nodded hesitantly to Takami and moved to get out of the car. Takami grabbed his sleeve as and when he turned to see her, he saw a look of almost desperation in her eyes.

"Keep him safe. I know he'll watch out for Yukari, so all I have to do is worry about him." She placed her head in her hands. And Kagari watched as she slumped down, all traces of her previous humor, or even serious attitude gone. All that was left was worry. She continued.

"Their f-... Minaka is going crazy. He gets worse by the day. I... I don't know when it will end. So please be careful." Kagari placed a hand on her shoulder and when she looked up at him, he nodded seriously.

"I will." He got out of the car and blurred into the night.

**oOo**

In the present

After Minato finished breakfast Kagari drew his attention and motioned to meet out in the hallway. While the others were chatting, Minato slipped out the door. Right after he got out of the room, Kagari thrust a small rectangular package at him.

"I think that this was meant for you." Minato gave him a confused look.

"Who did you get this from? What is it?" Kagari just shook his head however.

"I can't tell you. They'll reveal who they are when the time is right. And I don't know what's in it. I was just told not to open it yet. I'm sure we'll know when the time is right. Just... be patient." Minato frowned, not liking that answer. He didn't like secrets. In the end though, he took the package.

"Alright, that's fine I suppose. For now at least." He jerked his head in the direction of the door, smiling a little. "We should probably head back. Don't want them to start getting ideas." Kagari chuckled and followed Minato back into the room. As he walked in, he stuck the package into his pocket. As soon as Minato entered the room, the television suddenly turned on. Static crackled onto the screen and everyone gathered around, trying to get a view of what could be happening. Suddenly, The Chairman's face appeared on the screen and he let out a diabolical cackle.

"Welcome one and all to the third stage of this wonderful game I like to call 'The Sekirei Plan'! Up until now, you have been given free reign on what you wanted to do and when, but now things are about to get a little more strict. The third stage is a short one, with only eig-... seven battles. What is going to happen is I am going to announce who will take part in each battle and the number of sekirei you are allowed to bring. Battles will range from death matches to foot races and even scavenger hunts! Hee hee hee, doesn't that sound delightful?" Minaka did a little dance on the screen, his euphoria evident even through the camera. He continued.

"Now, don't think that these battles are all for nothing, no no no! The winners of these little contests will win a fabulous prize that will give them an advantage in the fourth and final stage of our little game!" The camera panned out, revealing a giant room with machinery filling the whole area. In the center, seven small crystals rested, held by the machines.

"These little babies will give you a huuuuuuuuuuuuge advantage, so remember to fight your hardest to win them! The first battle will be announced immediately. Will the ashikabi Seo Kaoru, Sanada Nishi and Hayato Mikogami report to the docks. You may each bring up to 3 sekirei. You are all lucky, because you get to do a scavenger hunt!" Minaka danced around in glee a little more before the T.V went static and shut off. The entire room was silent for a moment before people started speaking again. They hoped that Seo would be okay, though a scavenger hunt sounded right up his alley. After voicing their concerns, they began talking strategy. Yomi immediately stepped up and took the lead role.

"I don't know what type of contest we'll be made to participate in, but we should probably prepare for anything. I suggest that while we wait for our fight, we train and sharpen our skills, even if only a little." Looking around the room, everyone nodded.

While they spoke, Miya looked on with a hint of interest showing in her features. Everyone departed to the back yard with to train. They paired up and began sparring, Uzume against Yashima, Kagari against Akitsu, and Yomi faced off against Shiina. Kuno worked on her own, trying to figure out better ways to use her powers, and Ku watched from the sidelines with Minato, Yukari and Miya.

They battled for a short while and it was clear, even to Minato's untrained eye, that they were getting better, faster, even if only a little. Uzume consistently defeated Yashima, using speed and agility to win out against Yashima's brute force. Neither Kagari nor Akitsu could gain a foothold on the other, as their fire and ice met and nullified each time, though Minato was glad that he got to see Kagari use his power first hand.

Yomi attacked Shiina relentlessly, catching the boy off guard. He stumbled, but caught himself and retaliated with equal force. Not expecting the return attack, Yomi was thrown off her feet and landed sprawled on the ground. Minato saw her look over in his direction, and when she saw that he had seen, her face flushed a deep red and she redoubled her assault. They battled back and forth for a long while before Shiina tripped over himself when retreating from an attack. He fell to the ground, and when he got back to his feet, Yomi was behind him, finger on the back of his neck. She took a deep breath and Minato jumped to his feet, expecting the worst. Yomi's eye caught Minato's and she saw the look of panic them. Beside him, looking equally panicked was Yukari. She lost her resolve. She removed her finger from his neck and sighed.

"I win. Had I been out to eliminate you, you'd be gone now. Be careful or you'll end up terminated." Minato breathed a sigh of relief.

The sparring was interrupted when Miya's voice called to them from the dining room.

"Everyone, come here. Their broadcasting the match." There was a rush as everyone ran inside racing to get the best spots around the T.V. When they all got to their seats, they saw that the battle had already started and the screen was split into three different views, one on each team as they searched for the prize. Two of the cameras however were focused on the same spot. From different angles, Minato watched as several sekirei stood quietly watching in disbelief as a pair of ashikabi traded blows. Minato groaned when he saw that one of them was Seo. The other looked a lot like Seo and had several sekirei that Minato didn't recognize, so he assumed that he must be Sanada. From behind, Minato heard a soft chuckling. He turned around and saw that it was Miya.

"Kukuku, of course that piece of trash is fighting himself. He can't do anything right anyway." Those gathered flinched at the level of disdain manifesting around Miya. Minato decided to focus his attention elsewhere. He turned his gaze to the last camera shot. Minato was surprised to find that Mikogami was much younger than he expected. When a pair of familiar sekirei appeared on screen, he felt Kuno cling to his side, memory of their kidnapping still fresh in her mind. They all watched as Mikogami essentially strolled to where the prize was as his opponents wasted time. When he found it, he grabbed it and lifted it high in the air.

Across the city, a siren rang out, signaling the end of the first battle. The screen changed to The Chairman's face once again.

"Delightful! I knew that you all wouldn't disappoint me with boring contests! The winner of the first prize is Hayato Mikogami! Now without further adieu, let us call out the last battle of the day. Will the following ashikabi please report to the construction site nearest MBI tower with once again, up to 3 Sekirei! Higa Izumi, Takano Kouji and Minato Sahashi. This contest will be a battle royale until only one side remains, feel free to bring as many as 3, or as few as 1. Don't disappoint me!"

Tension filled the air as the screen flicked off. This was it. Their first battle. Minato wracked his brain, thinking. Who should he bring? Yomi climbed to her feet and looked at Minato.

"Shall we go?" Uzume jumped to her feet.

"Who says you get to go?" Yomi sneered.

"Of course I'm going. Minato is my partner after all." As soon as the words came out of her mouth, the room exploded into a shouting match, most everyone claiming that they should be the ones to go. Minato's ears rang from the noise and his head started to pound.

They kept arguing until Minato finally yelled, "BE QUIET!" The room fell silent and everyone stared at Minato. Outbursts from him were about as common as snow in the summer. As their eyes all fell upon him, Minato shrank back, suddenly timid once again.

"P-please be quiet for a moment and let me decide" A minute passed. Then two. Then five. Just when Yukari couldn't take the tension anymore, Minato spoke up.

"Okay, I've decided. I'm going to take Akitsu, Yashima and Kagari. I want to see Yashima and Kagari in real action and I know that Akitsu is strong enough to handle most opponents." Yomi fumed and Uzume pouted while Kuno looked like she understood his decision, but still had a sad look on her face. Kagari's head bobbed up and down like he expected that he'd be on the list all along. Yashima yelped excitedly before leaping over and wrapping her arms around Minato.

"Don't worry Minato-sama! I won't lose to anyone!" Chuckling nervously, Minato, with the help of Yomi and Uzume, managed to peel Yashima off. He looked over at Akitsu to see what she had to say. She gave him a curt nod.

"As you wish Master." Minato flinched a little under the word. He really just did not like being called master. With that decided, the four set out to the site of the second battle of the third round. As they walked down the path to the street, a voice called out from the doorway. Minato turned around to see Yukari.

"Hey bro! Be careful will ya. I'll smack you around real good if you let any of these pretty girls get hurt!" She grinned wide and gave him a big thumbs up. Minato smiled back and did the same. No one would get hurt if he had anything to say about it.

As they walked toward their destination, Minato thought about several things. He thought about the odds of someone actually getting hurt in this challenge. It made him sick. He hoped and prayed that they would all be alright. Honestly the whole idea of this game disgusted him, but he knew that there was no other way, so he would do his best to make sure that they won. That none of his new family would be separated. He then thought about the battle. He didn't recognize the name Takano, but Higa was as familiar as Mikogami. He was strong, so there was no telling what sekirei they could expect. Seeing his face pensive, Yashima cut into his thoughts.

"Is something wrong Minato-sama? Can I do something to help?" Minato glanced down at her and immediately caught the look of adoration and honesty in her eyes. He cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Ahhhh, no. I'm fine, don't worry. I was just thinking of some strategies for this fight." Out of the corner of his eye, Minato saw Kagari giving him a look of approval, and Yashima was bouncing up and down excitedly.

"I wanna help! What should I do when I fight?" Minato couldn't keep a straight face and laughed at her enthusiasm. She was so bouncy and excited that he had decided to take her. It was infectious and Minato couldn't seem to keep his previous grim demeanor from melting away.

As they walked, Minato told them his ideas and asked them to share what they thought should be done.

**oOo**

They approached the construction site. Everything was still, and Minato saw several figures standing in the center. They watched as Minato and his sekirei slowly walked to the center. As they got closer, Minato made out five figures in total. They were split into a group of three led by a handsome man in a white suit that Minato assumed was Higa Izumi, and a group of two led by a boy with messy blonde hair wearing a green shirt under a blue hoodie. As they neared, Minato was left wondering why Higa had only brought two sekirei. If the rumors were true, then he had at least quadruple that. He scanned the situation. He had brought three, and there were three enemies. He felt sorry for his opponents, but he couldn't afford to lose. They walked to an empty spot, creating a triangle with the other groups. The second they stopped walking, the loud voice of The Chairman boomed throughout the area.

"Welcome my little wagtails, to the second battle! Remember that this is going to be broadcast, so make sure you keep it interesting! And now, let the battle...COMMENCE!" Without any hesitation, the sekirei behind the boy in the hoodie took off. She dashed straight at Minato and as she ran, a halberd materialized in her hand. From behind her, her ashikabi shouted encouragement.

"You can do it Namiji! Let's win this!" In moments, she crossed the distance between the two groups and thrust he blade directly at Minato. He flinched and closed his eyes. There was the sound of metal grating against something and when he opened his eyes, the halberd was pressed up against the oversized head a hammer. Yashima glared at the sekirei who jumped back.

"Don't you dare touch Minato-sama!" She turned her head around and gave Minato a short smile before dashing after the girl, swinging her mighty hammer for all it was worth. Shock waves resounded through the area each time their weapons collided. Their figures seemed to almost blur and disappear, their speed nearly too much for Minato to follow. Suddenly, he remembered the other sekirei. Akitsu and Kagari calmly waited for Higa to make his attack. His two sekirei stood, as if waiting for something. A soft buzzing sound reached Minato's ears and Akitsu's eyes widened a little bit. She spun around and lifted her hand, a wall of ice forming between Minato and a small flying blade. From across the way, a small sigh could be heard coming from Higa.

"Well, I suppose it was too much to hope that we could end this quickly. Oriha, Kaie, go." The two figures acted as one and sprinted forward. Several spinning blades manifested around the one he had called Oriha, and Akitsu jumped out to meet her. The spinning blades met with flying shards of ice. One the other side, Kaie lashed her arm to the side and a multitude of whips leaped out of nothingness to attack Kagari. Without even using his powers, he leaped into the air and over the attack, his black cloak flapping wildly. Minato decided to turn his attention back to Yashima. He saw her swinging wildly, unable to connect with anything. She could barely defend herself under the onslaught that was her enemies halberd. With each swing, Minato could see sweat pouring off her face. She was losing.

Namiji feinted an overhead cut and when Yashima lifted her hammer to block it, she changed direction and slashed across Yashima's midsection. Blood splattered across the ground, and Yashima cried out in pain. Panic rose in Minato's chest.

"Yashima! You can do this! Please, don't lose." Hearing Minato crying out, Yashima smiled and redoubled her assault. Blood still leaked, but it wasn't a dire wound. However, no matter how much power she put into her attacks, she couldn't break through the halberd wielders guard. Her face lit up. An idea. She swung her hammer low, like she was going to go for and underhand strike, so Namiji shifted her weapon and looked down to catch the hammer. What Yashima really did, however, was slam her hammer into the ground, scraping up earth and throwing it right into the face and body of her foe. Namiji was briefly blinded and the earth left small cuts all over her body.

When she managed to clear her eyes, she heard her ashikabi yell, "Namiji! Look out!" She jerked her head in his direction and only caught a glimpse of the panic and worry in his eyes before a massive hammer cut off her vision and crashed into her. She felt her ribs snapping as the force of the weapon shattered bones.

Namiji sailed through the air and her ashikabi let out a cry of despair when she finally crashed into a stone wall. Dust floated around her, and when it settled, she lifted her hand, still lying in the hole she created.

"Ta...Ka...No... I'm... Sorry." She muttered with a weak voice before a small light flashed and her hand fell. Takano Kouji sprinted over to where she lay and fell to his knees, tears falling onto her still form. Yashima also dropped from her feet. She sat on the ground, panting in exhaustion, the adrenaline pumping through her system.

In the another battle, Kagari fired arrows made of pure flames at his opponent. They sailed through the air, only to be cut down with ease by a pair of whips. With a flick of the wrist, those whips flashed through the air and wrapped around Kagari.

"I have you now." The girl exclaimed. Kagari only smirked at her. Suddenly, his whole form was engulfed in flames. Those flames burned away his bonds and ran down the length of the whips until they reached the wielder. She yelped when her whips disappeared, but her surprise lasted only a moment before she flung more, this time with the intent to kill, not capture. Kagari shot a wall of fire, repelling the whips and surrounding Kaie. She flung her head around, looking for a way out of the cage of fire surrounding her. She started to spin, her whips kicking up dirt and creating a gust of wind. The wind blasted around her and the fire started to go out, but her breathing became ragged. She gasped for breath as the fire ate up all the oxygen around her. She slowed until she was kneeling on the ground, panting. She collapsed, unable to find the air she needed. The fire went out as she collapsed face first onto the ground.

While she lied on the ground, motionless Kagari walked over to her unconscious form. He gently placed a finger on the back of her neck.

"By the flames of my pledge, may my ashikabi's perils be burned to ash." A burst of light followed as the mark on the back of Kaie's neck disappeared.

The last battle being fought was between Oriha and Akitsu. Blades flashed through the air, colliding with sheets of ice. Akitsu waved her hand and ice formed around her feet and legs. Oriha glared. A pair of blades flew through the air and began hacking at the ice while half a dozen continued their assault of Akitsu. They weaved between each other. Back and forth, moving so fast that Minato couldn't follow them. Behind her, Minato saw Higa watching, seemingly undisturbed that one of his sekirei was beaten already. While her legs were still stuck to the ground, Akitsu summoned a dozen icicles the shot at Oriha. Her flying blades managed to block most of them, but a few managed to slip past and they cut lines across Oriha that dripped blood down her face and arms.

She snarled and the ice around her legs shattered and she redoubled her attack. Akitsu looked on with disinterest while she seemingly fended off the assault with no effort. Oriha roared with frustration, her blades dancing in front of Akitsu, trying to find a cap in her apparently impenetrable defense. With her ice, Akitsu knocked the knives from the air. When they hit the ground, Akitsu surrounded them with ice, freezing them in place. The air was clear, the only sound the knives struggling to break free from their icy prison. Oriha yelled out and when she looked, Akitsu was gone. She felt a small touch at the back of her neck and gasped.

"By th-" Akitsu froze, realization on her face. Figuring out that the end wouldn't come quickly, Oriha spun around. There was a crash as her knives shattered the ice. Akitsu's eyes looked scared. Filled with fear and self-loathing. The blades cut darted at Akitsu's throat. She didn't even move to dodge.

Just as it neared her neck, the blade was slammed out of the air. Sliding into place between Akitsu and Oriha was Yashima. Akitsu dropped to her knees while Yashima took up her fight. Yashima swatted away the few blades that had managed to free themselves until she finally maneuvered right in front of Oriha. She swung low, knocking Oriha off her feet. Yashima place her finger in the usual place and said her Norita.

"By the hammer of my pledge, may my ashikabi's enemies be smashed to pieces." Light flashed and the sekirei mark disappeared. The battle was over. Minato scanned the battlefield. The ground of torn up and scorched all over the place. The boy in the hoodie was still kneeling beside his fallen sekirei, bawling. Minato shot a glance to Higa who shrugged his shoulders in resignation. He didn't even seem to care that he had just lost two sekirei. Without a care, he sauntered to his car, got in and drove away. Minato scowled after him.

Minato turned his attention back to his own sekirei. Kagari was leaning against a wall, casually waiting for the message to leave. Yashima stumbled over to Minato, still leaking a little blood from the cut on her torso. She had a wide grin on her face.

"Did I do good Minato-sama?" She stumbled over and tripped, crashing into Minato's chest. Minato frantically checked to make sure she was alright, but she had just fallen asleep, exhausted. He smiled softly and held her.

"You did great." He called Kagari over and handed the unconscious Yashima to him. He then turned his attention to his last sekirei. Akitsu was on her hands and knees, not moving. Minato walked over and knelt down beside her. Her eyes were still as wide as they had been. There were several wet spots on the ground below her and Minato realized that there were tears streaming down her face.

"Akitsu, are you all right? Did you get hurt." Akitsu didn't answer. She almost didn't even seem to hear him. So he waited.

Eventually, Akitsu sank back until she was sitting down, her head still hanging down. After a moment, Minato heard her start to mutter.

"I have failed you. You took me in despite my faults and I've failed you. I'm broken. You should just leave me. I'll never be good enough." She trembled. Her eyes shot wide open when Minato pulled her into a hug, a surprisingly forward action for the usually timid Minato. He held her tight until she finally stop shaking.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to abandon you. You're already a part of my family, and I don't leave family." After a moment, Akitsu's face went back to it's usual neutral look, though now there was a hint of something when she looked at Minato, and a hint of something else when no one was looking.

"Ohhh, how sweet!" A booming voice called out. Minato jerked his head around to see Minaka Hiroto walking slowly toward Minato, his hands out in a grand gesture. In his left hand he carried a familiar shape. He reached Minato and passed over what was in his hand.

"And here is your prize. That was a wonderful fight. Now do be careful, you're one of my personal favorites for this lovely game and I don't want to see you lose carelessly." Minato looked at him coldly and took the prize. With a flourish, he quickly left the scene, laughing all the way. Minato looked at the jagged object in his hand. It was a long crystal that narrowed to a tip. It had some kind of ball in the center on it and had a large 02 on it. A faint hint of energy almost seemed to be radiating from it. What was it? How was this supposed to give them an advantage later in the game?

Minato sighed. He would have to figure that out later. Minato motioned for Kagari to follow with Yashima while he led Akitsu home.

**oOo**

As soon as Minato walked through the door to Maison Izumo he was assaulted by a barrage of bodies crying out in joy. When he finally managed to peel the sekirei off him, they all went inside. Everyone chattered excitedly and Yukari slapped him hard on the back, dragging out a wince.

When they finally settled down, he dragged out the crystal that Minaka had given him. As soon as it came into view, there was a gasp. All eyes in the room shifted to the source of the gasp. It came from Miya. Everyone looked at her, questioning.

"T-that's a Jinki. I didn't get a good look when they were shown on the television. Why would Minaka be using those as a prize?" Minato was shocked. How would Miya know what that was? Come to think of it, how did she even know about the sekirei plan itself? He asked as much. In response, Miya just looked at him, suddenly solemn. Then she smiled.

"My late husband worked at MBI. He was one of the chief workers on the sekirei plan. That..." She said pointing to the 'Jinki', "Is a very dangerous and powerful gem. I don't know what they've done to it, but if any one person gets their hand on all of them, they would have the power to end every sekirei." Minato was shocked. He looked at this surprisingly special crystal. He had no idea that he was holding something that held the power over all sekirei. It hit him. Why the feeling of power was familiar. He set the Jinki on the table and dashed upstairs.

When he got to his room, he grabbed the package he had hidden away before the battle. He ripped off the packaging and the wrapping. As he unwrapped it he caught a glimpse of crystal. He was right. He ripped off the packaging to reveal a crystal exactly the same as the one downstairs except for the large 08 on the front. He ran back to the stairway, calling out.

He took two steps when his heel caught on the lip of the stairway behind him. He stumbled and began to fall, shouting in surprise. The first to appear at the base of the staircase was Akitsu. It looked like she wanted to prove that she could be useful after her breakdown earlier. Minato watched as he fell. The other tenants of the house started to gather into the hallway as he dropped through the air. He swung his right arm wide, trying to keep the Jinki out of harms way. As he crashed into Akitsu, she stumbled, tripping backwards. He fell on top of her. Their faces collided together as Minato inadvertently kissed her.

Right as he was about to pull back to apologize, there was a flash of light. Actually, there were three. One came from Minato's hand. The Jinki flashed brightly, the light filling the room. A matching light came from Akitsu's forehead. Immediately though, that light started to fade. Minato saw a look of surprise and confusion coming from Akitsu. She didn't have any idea more than he did what was going on. Lastly, the third light was a little more familiar. A giant pair of icy blue wings sprouted from Akitsu's back. The lights flashed bright for a long while and then slowly faded. Minato broke contact and looked down at Akitsu. She back up at him with disbelief. Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. Minato saw that the tattoo on her head was gone. She smiled at him, an expression so foreign to see coming from Akitsu that Minato wasn't sure how to feel about it.

"Sekirei #7, Akitsu is yours. Now and forever." She pulled his head down and kissed him again.

**A/N: There you have it. Thank you for reading and thank you for waiting for this chapter. I thought my last one was long, but this one is twice as long as most chapters. Thanks for everyone who reviewed last chapter and now I'll answer a few questions. To ValdiusMacto, man, it's not cool to assume that someone hasn't thought out their story. It's your opinion about it, but I was a little confused. If you thought it was bland, why would you favorite and follow it? Regardless, I hope that I can change your mind with later chapters. Here's the thing though with the plot holes. This is a fanfiction. If in my story I decide that Matsu doesn't live at Maison Izumo, then she doesn't. She isn't relevant to the story, so she isn't there. I don't mean to sound mean when I say that by the way, but you just seem to be expecting the canon story. I just don't really understand that, I mean what the stories that don't have Maison Izumo at all, or just focus on say, Benitsubasa? Those are some plot holes aren't they? Regardless again, I hope that I can make you like this story in the next chapters. I believe that that response also answered the question by DontCallMeAnOtaku as well. Matsu isn't there. That's all, please let me know what you think, whether in a review, or just a PM. I'd like to know which characters you like the best and actually I want to know all of your favorite chapters. Thanks again for reading, I hope I don't disappoint.**

**Till Next Time,**

**CassiusBrutius Out!**


	15. A Lingering Thought

**A/N: Here's the next chapter, sorry for the delay. I had writer's block and even though I know that that is no excuse, I plead that you forgive me. I hope that I can make it up with this chapter.**

Chapter 15: A Lingering Thought

Some time later, everyone in the house gathered around the table in the dining room. Minato sat in the center of one side of the table, the two nearly identical crystals lying on the table in front of him. To his left, Kuno was looking up at him, her eyes filled with curiosity. On his right was Akitsu, sitting much closer than was the norm. Her expression was back to its usual disinterest, though Minato thought that he saw the trace of a smile on her lips. Her face was clear and unobstructed in its beauty now that the large sekirei mark on her forehead had disappeared. When she noticed that he was staring, Minato watched as a faint tinge of pink slowly painted her cheeks. Minato smiled at her, causing her cheeks to flush further.

On the other side of her were Yukari, Shiina and Ku. They were all looking at Minato, and Yukari was shifting in her seat nervously. She clearly had a question, but was trying to hold back. Across from them on the other side of the table were Yomi, Uzume and Yashima who looked annoyed, interested and ignorant to the situation respectively. Kagari leaned against the wall behind them, seemingly uncaring. Last was Miya, who was seated at the head of the table, looking over the occupants of Maison Izumo with a vested interest. They sat in silence, everyone unsure of how to answer. That silence lasted for maybe two minutes before Yukari's impatience made her explode.

"What the hell was that? I thought that she couldn't be winged? What happened." Minato didn't answer for a moment. He sat and thought. He reached down and grabbed the small crystalline object emblazoned with a large 08 from the table.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. I thought the same. I think that this thing might have something to do with it however." There were nods from around the table in agreement. Suddenly, there was the sound of a throat being cleared from the head of the table. Every gaze in the room shifted to Miya.

"I believe I might be able to shed some light on that." Minato almost smacked his head in realization. Hadn't Miya said that her husband used to work for MBI? And she knew what the Jinki was. Of course she could explain what had happened.

"Ms. Landlady, please tell me. What happened here? Why?" She spent a moment gathering her thoughts before answering.

"Before I tell you, I'm sure that Minaka has done something to the Jinki, so my information probably isn't entirely accurate." She took a deep breath before continuing. "The Jinki are very powerful artifacts that hold the power to eliminate all sekirei if gathered together. That's why I was so surprised that Minaka is using them as a prize. Now, based on what just happened, I'd say that MBI somehow made it so while even alone, these can tap into the sekirei core do something. Reactivate them maybe? I'm not entirely sure, but one thing that is for sure is that Akitsu-san here could not be winged. But somehow now she is." Minato let it all sink in. Some of it was a little over his head, but he got the gist of it.

For the rest of the night, they all discussed the possibilities of this in the future. This was probably the advantage the chairman had mentioned previously. However, as they didn't know to what extent the Jinki had been changed, they decided not to test it further. Late in the night, they stored the crystals in Minato's room and went to bed.

**oOo**

Over the next few days, MBI called dozens of Ashikabi to participate in the third stage. Many were eliminated from the competition when the battle they joined was a battle royale. Mostly though, the battles didn't require all opponents to be eliminated and many took that to heart. That doesn't mean however that none were eliminated. Even in the "Less dangerous" battles, there were some casualties. Over the days, Minato watched and waited on the edge of his seat for Yukari to be called.

The occupants of Maison Izumo watched as the winner of the sixth battle of the second stage claimed his trophy. The battle had been a brutal contest of strength. Over a dozen sekirei had been deactivated until there was one standing. The boy claimed his Jinki from the chairman with reverence. With a cry of joy, he threw his head back and screamed in victory. Only a moment later, the screen went static. Immediately it cleared to reveal the chairman's face once again. He whooped in glee and danced around on screen.

"Why hello everyone watching! That was quite the show wasn't it?! What an energetic winner! Well now, that was the sixth battle, so you all know what comes next don't you? Right! The seventh! Of course those taking part know who they are, as they haven't been called for a battle yet have they? The last battle of the third stage will take place tomorrow. Everyone participating needs to join us at MBI tower. You know the one, the really tall one in the center of the city. See everyone tomorrow, and remember to be interesting. The first few battles have set the bar pretty high. Toodles!" Minaka waggled his fingers in front of his face and the screen went black. To his left, Minato heard Yukari blow out a puff of air. He looked back to see her leaning back against the table, her hands placed behind her head. She didn't seem to be overly worried. Minato on the other hand was terrified.

"Why do you look so relaxed?! Aren't you scared of what's going to happen?" Yukari smirked at the panic Minato and softly patted him on the cheek.

"It's not till tomorrow, so there's no use worrying today. I'll cross that bridge when the time comes to it." Minato's terror lessened a little. She was right. He had to calm down. But try as he might, he couldn't eliminate his worry entirely. It was his sister wasn't it? He took a deep breath and shifted his gaze around the room. He felt so out of place. All these amazing people, his sekirei, the landlady, even his sister. They were all so astounding, and he felt like he didn't fit in. His sekirei could try to convince him all they wanted, but he still felt inadequate. Cutting through his thoughts came the voice of Miya.

"Well, now that that's done with, it's getting close to dinner. Minato, would you mind going to pick up some groceries for me?" Absentmindedly, Minato stood and walked toward the door. Just when he reached the doorway, he heard Yomi cry out.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" Confused, Minato turned to answer when he saw the real subject of the question. Following right on his heels was Akitsu. She tilted her head to the side before she answered.

"It is still dangerous for Master to go out alone is it not? An enemy could try and kill him to remove the competition. Does it not make sense for me to accompany him to ward off these dangers?" As she spoke, she wrapped her arms around one of Minato's, and he saw Yomi's face start to twitch. Minato opened his mouth to try to diffuse the situation when another, smaller voice came out.

"No! Ku wants to go with Onii-chan!" The little girl with orange hair bounded up and latched onto Minato's leg. That tore it. A full argument exploded about who would go with Minato. Minato looked to Yukari for some help, but she was obviously too amused to be of any assistance. He really shouldn't have expected anything different.

In the end, they played rock, paper, scissors. They played once. Twice. Thrice before there was a cry of victory.

"Whoo! I win! Now Minato and I get to go on a little date!" Uzume attached herself to Minato's arm and pulled him toward the door. He sputtered, his face a little red from her enthusiasm.

"U-U-Uzume, we're just going to get some groceries!" When they reached the door, Uzume pouted a little.

"Come on, it'll be fun." Without waiting for him to answer, Uzume dragged him out the door and into the street, leaving behind several very disconcerted sekirei and one worried landlady. They started to walk down the street, and Minato thought he caught movement in the corner of his eye. But when he turned to see it, it was gone. He frowned at glanced at Uzume. She was smiling like she didn't have a care in the world, so Minato decided that it had just been his imagination. Just paranoia.

In the beginning, they walked down the roads near Maison Izumo, so there were little to no people. Eventually though, they reached a more crowded area of the city and the sight of a beauty like Uzume clinging to Minato's arm started to draw gazes. Uzume didn't seem to take notice, with the exception making an odd joke about their looks or doing something to make Minato feel even more embarrassed. Luckily for Minato, they quickly reached the supermarket, and Uzume had to let go of him in order to help get the groceries.

Again, out of the corner of his eyes, Minato saw a shadow. When he tried to turn and see it though, it was gone. He shook his head, chasing the thought out of his mind. It was just his mind playing tricks on him.

They split up on quickly got everything on the list that Miya had given Minato before he left. After that, they started to walk back home, their arms laden with bags. The pair made their way through the crowd, and because of the bags, all they could do was walk side by side. This was good for Minato though, as it left his mind room to think because it wasn't engrossed with analyzing the feeling in his arm when a pretty girl was wrapped around it.

When he started to think, his mind naturally turned to Uzume. She was an enigma for him. She was very openly affectionate, but he didn't know why. Why had she wanted him as her ashikabi? What had he done? He felt like in the whole time he had known her, he had never seen her true self. In his time living with all his sekirei, he felt like he had gotten a good grasp of who they all were. Yomi actually cared despite her seeming indifference. Yashima really was just devoted to the man that had saved her from a forced winging. Ku looked up to her big brother and loved him just as much as she did Shiina, a thought that humbled Minato. Kagari was a good friend. One who really wanted to protect him, even if he could be a little secretive at times. And Kuno... Kuno wasn't good at expressing her feelings. She had grown better at it while they stayed at Maison Izumo and she wanted to stay with Minato. He smiled at the thought.

Then there was Uzume. He could clearly remember the actions he had taken leading to each of his sekirei's wingings except her. He didn't seem to do anything. He supposed one could just chalk it up to fate, but that left a bad taste in his mouth. There had to be a reason. He decided that the clearest course of action would just be to ask her himself. Suddenly, a hand gripped his shoulder, stopping him from moving. He turned to see Uzume, her face serious. She stepped in front of Minato and called out.

"I know you're there. You might as well come out." A pair of shadows flashed through Minato's periphery before materializing in front of him. He looked around and realized that while he was deep in thought, they had wandered onto a deserted street. He couldn't hear anyone around. The shadows took the form of a pair of girls. One was in a yellow jumpsuit with a black collar and sleeves. Her reddish hair hung down into her half closed eyes, giving her and uncaring look. The other stood defiantly puffing out her well endowed chest, further accented by her less than modest outfit. It was an outfit split between yellow and purple, each color running down half her body. There were many gaps in it, revealing portions of her chest, midsection and thighs. She smirked at Uzume.

"So you finally noticed us eh? Too bad you didn't see us until you were all alone. Now, if you would please hand over the prize you won in the second round?" She held out her hand and smiled like she actually expected to get the Jinki. Uzume scoffed.

"Please, I saw you the minute we left the house. I just didn't want to worry Minato and make him want to go get the others. Now, I'm going to get rid of you so that I can resume my time alone with Minato. It doesn't come often, so I'd rather not have you ruin it." She smiled sweetly as the words left her mouth. It was one of the most terrifying things that Minato had ever seen. The sekirei with the split uniform scowled.

"Fine then. Time to get down to business then. Katsuragi, let's go." As she spoke, the sekirei in the yellow jumpsuit nodded and launched forward. She moved so quickly that she seemed to teleport right in front of Minato. She drop low and swung a kick at Uzume. Uzume leaped back and pulled a white cloth from somewhere on her body Minato didn't know. She spun, the cloth extending and shielding her from sight.

When she came back into view, she was no longer wearing jeans and long sleeved shirt. She was now wrapped in the very white cloth she had pulled out moments before. The cloth billowed out behind her. Without waiting for a response, Uzume charged in, the robes lashing out and cutting at her enemies. The pair of sekirei, clearly surprised by her sudden ferocity, dodged clumsily, taking several small slashes in the process. Their surprise lasted only a moment however before they went back on the offensive. The one in the yellow jumpsuit, Katsuragi, charged in swinging her fists. Uzume molded her robes into the shape of a shield and guarded herself from the blow. The force of the blow sent her skidding back several feet, and before she could recover, the other sekirei appeared and kicked her long legs at Uzume. Crying out in pain, Uzume crumpled to the ground.

"Uzume!" Minato cried out and ran to her side. She was kneeling on the ground, breathing raggedly.

"Are you okay?" Minato asked, worry in his voice. The other two sekirei slowly approached, the one still yet to be named smirked.

"Is that all you've got? I thought you were going to get rid of us." Uzume snarled. Her eyes darted back and forth, looking for a way to win. A way out.

"God damn it." In a sudden burst, Uzume threw up her arm, throwing a wall of pure white up between her and Minato, and the two opponents. They both dropped into a defensive stance, awaiting an attack. That attack never came. When the wall of cloth fell, no one was there.

"Shit!" Jerking her head side to side, she frantically searched for any sign of Minato and Uzume.

**oOo**

Gasping for air, Uzume fell against a wall and slid to sit on the ground. She gripped her side and grimaced. That had been quite the kick. Minato crouched down beside her.

"Are you okay?" Uzume's face lit up and she smiled.

"Of course Minato. Don't worry, something like that isn't enough to take me out." She started to stand, pushing through the pain. As she got to her feet, she found a hand on her shoulder, pushing her back to the ground. When her butt hit the ground, she looked up at Minato. His face was hard and serious, and he stared at her, not buying that she was okay. While she looked at him, he saw her face start to flush pink.

"Take it easy. I don't want you playing tough and getting hurt worse." Uzume grabbed Minato and pulled him into an asphyxiating hug.

"Oh, Minato! You do care!" After several long moments, Minato managed to struggle free. He took a few steps back and smiled stiffly. He turned his back to Uzume, placed his hands behind his head and took a deep breath.

"Uzume?" Minato called, his back still facing her. Uzume's head tilted to the side, not sure what was wrong.

"Uhh, yes?" She waited in silence for what felt like a long while before Minato spoke again. He took another deep breath and sighed.

"Why me? I-I've thought about this a lot, but why did you choose me as your ashikabi? I just... Watching you out there, fighting to protect me and even getting hurt... I can't understand what I've done to earn that. What I've done to deserve any of you, let alone all of you." Several wet patches appeared on the ground as tears streamed down Minato's face. He struggled to hold back the tears to no avail. All the time, his new friends, his new family were putting themselves in danger for his sake. All he could think, was 'I'm not worth it.'

A pair of arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him into a comforting embrace. An embrace that was much different from anything he'd felt from Uzume before. Usually, she was trying to make him uncomfortable, but this was something else. All she did was hold him while he shuddered. Eventually, he stopped, and Uzume turned Minato to face her.

"To be honest, at the start I didn't know why I reacted to you. I thought you were awkward and didn't have a confident bone in your body. I thought you were handsome yes, but that's only a small part of what matters." Minato blinked several times. That was not what he had expected. He opened his mouth to respond, but Uzume placed a finger over his mouth, silencing him.

"But then I watched as you proved my instincts right. Time after time, I saw you risking yourself to save others. Yomi, Yashima, Ku. I saw your kindness saving even more, like Akitsu and Kagari, and even Kuno. Even though you aren't confident, when the time comes, you are the bravest person I know." She pulled Minato in and hugged him gently. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her back. She continued to whisper in his ear.

"Seeing how brave you can act makes me want to prove myself too. So please Minato, don't worry. As long as you are watching me, I will never lose. I'll win again and again until I can stay with you forever." Minato felt his face blushing crimson at her words. That was nothing compared to how red he was after what came next. She pulled back, and Minato saw that her face was red as well. She was clearly feeling awkward, an expression that Minato had never seen on Uzume before. He thought it was extremely cute.

"Minato... I want you to kiss me." Minato started to choke. He coughed and looked back at her, his face the embodiment of embarrassment.

"W-w-w-what?" Uzume looked up into his eyes, now looking frustrated as well as uncomfortable.

"I said to kiss me. Normally I'd start this, but I want you to do it okay?" She closed her eyes and leaned forward, waiting. Her face was flushed and small tear drops waited at the corners of her eyes. Minato hesitated for a moment. Slowly, he leaned down, drawing their faces closer together. Finally, after a long moment, their lips touched. At first it was a gently kiss, easy and comfortable. Then Uzume wrapped her arms around Minato's neck and drew him closer. Deeper. He placed his arms around her waist, holding her close as well. What was a gentle kiss slowly grew in passion, growing into a deep kiss, filled their feelings and desires.

At the height of their passion, a bright pair of pure white wings exploded into existence from Uzume's back. They shined brightly in the night and seemed even brighter than the last time he had seen them. Uzume didn't seem to be paying it any heed and continued to kiss him passionately. The light persisted for a long while before slowly dying down. At last, they separated. They were both breathing heavily, gasping for air. Minato looked at Uzume's face. She looked beautiful. Suddenly Minato smiled slyly.

"That's not gonna happen every time I kiss you is it?" Uzume looked down for a moment before turning her gaze back to Minato. She smiled softly.

"Careful, or you're gonna make me fall for you all over again." They stood and held each other for many moments, just staring at the others face. Then they heard a voice call out.

"Well isn't that sweet?" Both Minato and Uzume spun around and found the pair of sekirei that they had fought earlier. Uzume snarled.

"I'd appreciate you leaving us alone, or I might do something you'll regret." The unnamed sekirei laughed.

"Isn't that what you said last time? Here's a hint by the way. When you're hiding, a giant flash of light is a bit like a beacon saying, 'Here I am!'" She smirked. "And I suppose since you're about to be eliminated, it'd be common courtesy to give you my name. I am sekirei #18, Ichiya, and I am going to be your end." After hearing this, Uzume stepped forward, smiling despite her previous loss to them.

"I wouldn't be so confident if I were you." Ichiya smirked and jerked her head. Katsuragi shot forward like a bullet. Without missing a beat, Uzume easily sidestepped, moving quicker and easier than she had in their previous battle. When Ichiya's face fell in dismay, Uzume made her move. She stopped in place and spoke.

"By the veil of my contract, may my ashikabi's nightmares be dispelled!" A gust of wind rose up, and suddenly, her robes shot forward, spinning and moving, forming a hurricane of cloth with Katsuragi caught in the center.

"Oh shit!" Ichiya shouted. Stumbling back, she retreated, running from what would be an obvious defeat.

As she ran, she shouted, "I'll get you back for this!" At the same time, in the center of the whirlwind, Katsuragi fought to avoid injury. Her fists and feet lashed out time after time in a futile attempt to keep the constant onslaught of attacks away. She fought and fought, but every time her defense lapsed, a new cut that dripped blood appeared somewhere on her body. In only a handful of moments, she was spilling blood freely and was having trouble staying on her feet. Despite all this, her face didn't show any emotion. Even as she crashed to the ground, spent.

There was a brief flash as the mark concealed beneath her jumpsuit vanished. The cloth tornado ceased, leaving Minato and Uzume alone with the unmoving form of their opponent. The sound of MBI choppers could already be heard in the distance, so the pair seated themselves and waited, as courtesy demanded.

**oOo**

A short while later, Minato and Uzume walked through the front door at Maison Izumo. They were immediately barraged with questions from Minato's other sekirei.

"Where were you? Why did it take you so long? What happened? Why is Uzume wearing that?" Uzume and Minato shared a look before Minato turned back to his other sekirei with a smile on his face.

"It was nothing. We're fine." His other sekirei, especially Yomi looked dissatisfied, but they accepted the word of their ashikabi. It was then that Minato felt a sudden killing intent. He felt as though his life was in danger. He turned slowly to reveal Miya standing behind him, the aura of her displeasure palpable.

"That's all well and good Minato-san, but may I ask, where are the groceries?"

**A/N: Again, I am sorry for how long this chapter has taken. A full month? That bothers me more than you can imagine. I hope that you like it and I promise that the next chapter won't take nearly as long. **

**Coming up next: Yukari's fight in the last battle of the third round. And then we begin to veer drastically from canon. Uhh, I think that that's everything. I hope you liked it, and I would love it you could let me know what you liked or disliked about it.**

**Till next time, **

**CassiusBrutus out!**


	16. A Brother's Worry

**A/N: Next chapter up. I hope you all enjoy. This also took longer than expected, though that seems to be a frequent thing, I apologize. I was in a little fender bender. I'm back now.**

Chapter 16: A Brother's Worry

Minato struggled to take a breath. He felt a heavy weight on his chest, stopping him from taking a full breath. Minato flailed back and forth trying to break the unknown weight off himself. His eyes shot open and he realized what the weight was. He let out a half sigh, still having trouble finding breath, when he saw that there were a pile of women on top of him. Minato smiled a little to himself before he growled to the women.

"Okay, it's morning, get off." He grunted, trying to throw them off, but they refused to budge. There was a shifting as a few of the girls started to stir. Minato felt movement as the girl with her arms wrapped around his to the right awoke. Yomi opened her eyes and smiled at Minato. After a moment, she seemed to realize that her face was only a few inches from Minato's. She squeaked and started struggling to move back. All she ended up doing however, was positioning herself even closer. She stopped and stared at Minato, her beat red face so close that she could feel his breath. She could feel her heart beating in her throat, and for some reason, Minato wasn't freaking out like she was. He seemed... different. She briefly wondered what had happened the previous day with Uzume. Her thoughts were interrupted when her attention was pulled back to the faintly tinged face of her ashikabi right in front of her. Her breath seemed to catch and she started to lean in a little bit closer. Just when their faces were only millimeters apart, there was the sound of the door sliding open, and Yomi's heart clenched in fear at the sudden killing intent in the room.

"Oh my. I was coming to wake up Minato-san, and I find this. I thought I'd made it abundantly clear that I will not have illicit relationships take place in this house." The sleeping forms all seemed to awaken at once, feeling the danger.

**oOo**

Nursing a few new bruises he had gotten during the stampede to get out of his room, Minato sat at the disconcertingly quiet dining room table eating breakfast. As he glanced around, some faces were apologetic, specifically Kuno, but most seemed content with having sneaked into his room. At the head of the table, Miya ate calmly, but there was a feeling of pressure throughout the room. The only ones who didn't seem to notice were Yukari, who seemed amused at the whole situation, and Ku, who was trying to feed Minato little bits of his breakfast. A little ways down the table, Shiina looked a little disappointed that Ku had gone back to sitting in Minato's lap instead of his own. He did smile however when he saw her having fun with the man.

"Well, it's about time for us to head out." Yukari stood and spoke, breaking the tension that filled the room. She motioned for Shiina to follow and walked out of the room. Everyone else sat in shock at her flippant attitude. Minato jumped to his feet and ran after, catching her at the door. He slowed to a stop in front of her. For several moments, they just looked at each other before Minato spoke.

With a serious look, he said, "Be careful. I know that you say not to worry, but I'm your older brother. Of course I'm going to worry. So please, just promise that you'll stay safe." After he spoke, he smiled. Yukari smiled back before punching him hard in the shoulder and laughing.

"Don't worry bro, I'll be fine. Might wanna be careful though, don't want your sekirei thinking you're a siscon." She winked and passed through the doorway, leaving. Shiina quickly followed. Minato frowned after her for a short time before sighing and closing the door. He walked back to the dining room and took his seat once again. He sighed another time and Ku sat on his lap once again. Suddenly, a thought struck him. He turned his gaze to the other side of the room to a silver haired figure in a white dress shirt.

"Kagari, it's probably dangerous on the way, would you mind watching over Yukari on her way to the contest. Don't interfere in the actual battle, just... keep an eye on her." Kagari's brow scrunched up before he nodded. He quickly went up stairs and changed into his trademark black outfit and followed after Yukari. Minato, feeling a little better at the thought of Kagari guarding his sister, relaxed.

A few blocks away, Yukari was walking beside Shiina. She thought back to her brother's worried face and smiled. He was really and truly worried for her. She let out a laugh, startling Shiina. He gave her a strange look, which she just laughed off. She lowered her head and smiled again. Then her face fell and she sighed. Though she put on an unbothered persona, she really was worried. What if there was someone stronger than Shiina? She didn't even know what type of battle it was. She prayed that it wouldn't be a battle royale. With a deep breath, she looked to the horizon. It was time to go to work.

**oOo**

The residents of Maison Izumo all sat gathered around the T.V, waiting for any sign that the final battle was about to begin. Suddenly, there was a flash and the television flickered to life. The face of Minaka Hiroto showed on the screen, as ecstatic and energetic as ever.

"Welcome one and all, to the final battle of the third stage of the wonderful sekirei plan! Now, it appears that some ashikabi have chosen this moment to try to escape from our little game here. That is going to make the game a little less fun than it should have been, but luckily, there are still plenty of participants to make this amusing! I do feel that it is necessary to inform you all that the discipline squad has been sent after those who chose not to participate. Bwahahaha. The games will begin shortly, so hang tight!" Minaka cackled in glee. On screen, a camera panned over the area showing a crowd of sekirei and ashikabi. Minato grimaced. Somewhere in that crowd, was Yukari. He swallowed, and the worry must have shown on his face, because he felt someone to his right grab his hand. He looked down at a smiling Kuno. He smiled a little back, when his other hand was grabbed. Yomi held his hand and looked away. Minato could still see the faint tinge of pink on her face. His other sekirei all comforted him in their own way. Together, they sat and waited for the final battle to begin.

**oOo**

When Yukari arrived at the site of the battle, she saw that many of the participants were already there. Some sat off on their own, and others chatted with each other, making alliances and pacts. For several minutes, Yukari and Shiina merely wandered around until the chairman's voice sounded over the crowd on a loudspeaker. He welcomed them all, but didn't begin the match. After the speech, Yukari's thoughts wandered. She had never considered trying to escape from the game. What if everyone in the game refused to play and tried to leave at once? There was no way MBI could stop them all could they? Even if they sent the military, the sekirei could easily overpower them. While she was lost in thought however, she didn't notice a girl approaching her until she spoke.

"Hey there. Another female ashikabi. Not many of us are there? Ummm, if you don't mind, do you wanna work together... I mean, if you want to..." The girl stood in front of Yukari. She had long black hair and was wearing a black dress. She had a black choker around her neck. Behind her was her sekirei. He had short blonde hair and wore a cloak that covered the entirety of his body. Yukari barely held back a smirk. He was nowhere near as good looking as Shiina. Instead, she flashed a smile at the girl.

"Of course! We girls gotta stick together right? I'm Yukari by the way, and this is Shiina." She motioned to the boy behind her. The other girl clapped her hands in glee and laughed in joy.

"Yay! I'm Yashiro and this is Amebane! Nice to meet you Yukari!" They quickly exchanged pleasantries and started telling each other about themselves. How they met their sekirei and what had happened to them so far in the game. Right in the middle of their conversation though, a couple of big men walked up to them, followed by a pair of discontent looking sekirei. They men planted themselves in front of the girls, standing so that they could tower over the group.

"Hey there girls. You pretty ladies shouldn't be doing something this dangerous. Don't worry though, my buddy and I here will protect you." He winked at Yukari, and she unconsciously shivered in revulsion. He seemed to take it for something else however and he smirked to himself in satisfaction. Yukari smiled, but her irritation was written on her face and she got ready to tell the dude off, but she got beat to the punch. Yashiro stomped forward, her face nearly twitching in anger.

"GET OUT OF HERE YOU IDIOTS! YOU THINK YOU'RE SMOOTH?! IF YOU DON'T GO AWAY RIGHT NOW, I WILL RIP YOUR TESTICLES OFF AND SHOVE THEM DOWN YOUR THROAT!" Yukari's eyes shot open and she stared at her new companion in confusion. Where had that outburst come from? She had seemed like such a sweet girl. Apparently the guys were thinking the same thing, because their mouths dropped to the floor, and they only picked them up long enough to slink away. After the thugs were gone, Yashiro turned back to Yukari, another angelic smile on her face. She placed a hand on her cheek and looked apologetic.

"Oh my, I'm sorry you had to see that. Things like that just bother me. I hope that doesn't bother you." Yukari hesitated for just a moment before she recovered her composure. She smiled hesitantly.

"Of course it doesn't. Thanks for the assist." She chuckled and the other girl laughed as well. In the middle of their laughing, the sound of feedback echoed across the area. The chairman's voice called out in its usual tone of excitement.

"Well, now that you've had time to get acquainted, shall we get the game going?" Suddenly, a large group of soldiers surrounded the probably 3 dozen ashikabi and 3 dozen sekirei. They directed them to a large line drawn on the ground. All the people were lined up on the line, almost like a race in track and field. In front of them, a giant television, probably 20 feet across flickered to life, revealing Minaka's face. His glasses glinted off the light from where he was.

"Now, I suppose that you all might want to know what you're going to be doing eh?" He chuckled and his face faded off the screen. What took it's place was a map of the city. There was a pick X that said "You are here." and a number of small lines drawn where the streets were. On the other side of the city was a similar X that said "Target." The chairman's voice echoed from the loudspeakers once again.

"Some of you may have already guessed, but this is going to be a race! You may take any of the 6 paths to the finish line. The first to arrive is the winner! Simple enough right?" The participants looked toward each other. This meant that no one had to be eliminated? That was phenomenal! Then, Minaka's voice continued for one last statement.

"Of course, if you're the last one standing, being the first one to the end won't be too difficult now will it?" At then end of his words, the loudspeaker cut off, leaving a deafening silence in its wake. Ashikabi and sekirei who had discussing plans with each other in a trusting manner just moments before were now eyeing one another, sizing them up and trying to decide who would win if it came down to it. Yukari looked at Yashiro out of the corner of her eye, wondering if the other girls was thinking the same thing as everyone else. Yashiro just smiled at her however.

"Don't worry Yukari, I don't really wanna win. I just wanna keep Amebane safe so we can stay together. If we both make it to the end, you can have the prize." She smiled cheerfully at Yukari who smiled back and mentally slapped herself for questioning this clearly innocent girl.

"Don't worry, I trust you." After letting the idea that they could win by removing other competitors sink in, the soldiers lined all those gathered up at the starting line. Shiina took his place beside Yukari with their new allies standing on the other side of him. He leaned in close and whispered into her ear.

"Y-Yukari. Are you sure that you trust them? I mean, we did just meet them and all." Yukari glanced at Shiina, but quickly moved her eyes away. He looked so cute when he was nervous. In the end she leaned and whispered back.

"Honestly? No. But we'll be in trouble if we get caught without anyone on our side." She growled to herself. "I wish my brother was in this. I know that we could rely on him here." Catching herself saying that she could rely on Minato, Yukari laughed to herself. When had that happened? Her laughter dying down, she took a deep breath and finished what she was saying.

"Anyway, don't worry. Just keep an eye on them. If push comes to shove, I trust you to keep me safe." She smiled at Shiina who blushed and turned his head away. Out of the corner of her eye, Yukari saw a soldier stride down the line of participants until he reached the center. The loudspeakers sounded out once again, and Yukari couldn't hold back a sigh at the sound of the familiar and eccentric voice that sounded out.

"Contestants! Are you ready! At the sound of the starting gun you will go! Now, make sure to make it fun to watch! Kekekeke." With a diabolical laugh, Minaka's voice faded out for the last time. The soldier standing in front of the line raised a starting gun. Tension filled the air as muscles tensed and eyes flicked back and forth between once allies. The man raised the gun above his head and prepared to fire. He waited 10 seconds. Then 20. After a full minute, some of the people gathered were frantic. Then, he pulled the trigger and a loud shot rang out. Yukari couldn't hear it though because a loud cracking and an explosion drowned it out. Down the line, a huge fight had broken out just at the start of the race. Yukari only spared it a glance before she took Shiina's hand and bolted down the street.

Several other groups had also had the calmness of mind to ignore the brawl and try to go for the win by speed instead of by strength. Just behind Yukari, Yashiro kept pace, Amebane keeping up with an easy lope that betrayed his small frame.

They ran side by side down one road after another. Sometimes, when they saw other competitors in groups larger than theirs, they ducked down alleys and waited for them to pass. To Yukari's surprise, the timid Amebane took the lead and ran at the front of the group, setting an easy pace for everyone to keep up. Suddenly, he slid to a stop, nearly crashing to the ground when Shiina slammed into him from behind. Puzzled, Yukari looked beyond him and jerked in surprise when she saw a pair of familiar face.

"Bwahahaha! You were right, they did come down this way. Nice call man." The giant man stood in the center of the road. He was laughing and applauding his partner in crime. Yukari shivered at the thought of having met these men once again. It was clear that they had searched them out though, and there was nothing she could do but make them leave.

Behind the men stood their sekirei. The looked discontent, almost sad. It just made Yukari even angrier that these men had a pair of beautiful women who had sworn their lives to them, yet they still had hit on her. Disgusting. The man who had originally spoken turned his attention back to the group and sneered.

"Disrespect us will you? I'll teach you to show respect to your betters. Heck, when we take care of those little punks, we'll make sure that we have some fun." He grinned, and Yukari shivered as her skin crawled. She felt a hand on her shoulder and Shiina placed himself in front of her, his face hard and unforgiving. Off to the side, Amebane had done the same, and his cloak had slipped from his shoulders, revealing a small yet very muscular frame. His outfit revealed a lot of skin, yet it didn't feel indecent. It would be just Yukari's type of outfit, but even though he was a very handsome man, he didn't hold a candle to Shiina. The men smirked and jerked their heads in the direction of the group. The two sekirei stepped in front of the men and sighed.

One of the sekirei raised her fists. She was wearing a tight red top that cut off just above her belly button and black shorts. Her black hair was cut very short, and her eyes flashed in anger. She looked ready to take out her anger on her opponents. She placed herself in front of Amebane and started bouncing back and forth on her heels like a boxer. If looks could kill, Amebane would be in the ground by now.

Beside her, the other sekirei approached Shiina. She was wearing jeans and a loose white blouse. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, leaving a short stream of brown falling down her back. From somewhere Yukari couldn't tell, she pulled out a pair of daggers and lowered her stance. Unlike the other sekirei, she didn't seem angry. In fact, she didn't even seem to care. The first to make a move was Yashiro.

"Amebane! Go and take them out!" With a curt nod, he did just that. He bolted forward, swinging a wide kick at the boxer. She ducked down, dodging his blow without even moving her feet. Before he could recover, she darted forward and assaulted Amebane with a barrage of punches. He stumbled back, barely fending off the gale force wall that was her attack. Yukari saw his body tense to respond, but her attention was called back to Shiina. The bladed sekirei shot forward, her knives flashing in front of her. Shiina's face changed from the anger of earlier to a kind of worry. He didn't hold anything against the sekirei, just the men. He jumped to the side when the sekirei jabbed her knife at him.

The sound of tearing filled the air as the knife caught Shiina shirt, leaving a rip and a small trickle of blood from a tiny cut. Yukari's heart jerked in worry, but she needn't have felt so. Steeling his heart, Shiina walked slowly toward the woman. She tensed and leaped into the air at him. Taking a deep breath, Shiina raised one hand above himself.

"Death flower." A field of greenish energy manifested above Shiina. The other sekirei's knife collided with the wall, and her face contorted with effort while she tried to break through. Shiina looked on calmly, his face straining. But under that straining was a sadness. The woman's face began to show fear when the energy began to wrap itself around her knives and then her arms. The pestilence spread and spread until it began to engulf her whole body. In her hands, her knives disintegrated and she let out a scream that would never be heard. The energy covered her face, blocking the sound. She fell to the ground to move no more. Yukari shivered from the pure power displayed. Shiina fell to his knees beside the defeated sekirei and a few stray tears dripped down his face. He cried for her. He cried for the fact that she didn't have an ashikabi that would treasure her and love her. He looked up when he felt a pressure on his shoulder. Yukari smiled down and him and crouched to pull him into a hug.

When they broke apart, Yukari glanced over to see not only the boxing sekirei lying beaten on the ground, but also the men. Their faces bloodied and bruised. Amebane looked pensive and Yashiro smiled easily. She grabbed Yukari's hand and pulled her. Without a word, they started down the street.

**oOo**

Yukari slowed to a walk. She glanced around at the towering building. They blocked to sun and covered the world in shadow. She and Shiina walked side by side and Yukari could see how distressed he was after the fight they just had. Without a word, she slipped a hand into his. Then, from just behind them came a sound.

"Kekeke, how sweet. Too bad it won't last any longer." Yukari jerked her head around just in time to see Amebane dart forward. His fist connected with the side of a confused Shiina's face. The force of the punch fired him through the air. He crashed into the side of one of the buildings and didn't rise again. Yukari's body jerked and she stared at her two "allies" without comprehension.

"W-w-why did you just do that? SHIINA!" She screamed and her eyes filled with tears. A dam ready to burst. Yashiro smirked.

"Please do y-"

"Shut up!" She was cut off by a shout from Amebane, and to Yukari's surprise, she nodded, meek as a mouse. Amebane placed himself in front of Yukari. He grabbed her chin and looked into her eyes. She tried to speak, but fear blocked her throat. His previously submissive demeanor was gone and malice filled his eyes. He started to speak again.

"Poor thing. You know there can only be one winner, and now I am going to prove that I am the strongest male sekirei. Maybe I'll even play with you a little when I win." Looking into his smug eyes, Yukari's fear started to dissipate, anger taking it's place.

"You tricked us!" She snarled. She struggled to wrench herself free from his grasp, but to no avail.

"Of course we tricked you. It's all part of the game, so please don't take it personally." Yukari opened her mouth to retort, but before she could, Amebane's eyes jerked open and he disappeared, landing ten feet back from where he stood. The place he had just been was filled with a miasma. The pavement began to melt, a warning for what would have happened had he not moved so quickly. Shiina stumbled forward until he stood just in front of Yukari.

"Don't. You. Dare. Touch. Her." He paused after every word to catch his breath. Amebane raised and eyebrow in disbelief.

"Still standing are you? That's quite the surprise. Too bad it won't be for too much longer." And then he moved. He darted around, shooting from place to place faster than Yukari could follow. Shiina's eyes tried to keep up, but they kept losing track. Just when he thought to move, Amebane would appear and deliver a crushing blow, knocking Shiina to his knees. Every time though, he stood back up. He refused to stay down. Tears fell freely from Yukari's face as she watched in terror as Shiina was beaten black and blue before her eyes.

Shiina wobbled back and forth in place, and it seemed that a light breeze would knock him over. Out of the corner of her eye, Yukari saw Amebane making his move. He attacked from the side, and Shiina clearly hadn't seen him. In that moment, Yukari dove forward and wrapped her arms around Shiina. It was then that she felt the fist land. She cried out in pain from the force. Then her mind went blank when she felt her ribs snap. She had no coherent thought while she fell to her knees. Only pain. Pain and suffering.

She thought she faintly heard a voice calling her name. The another. As she fell forward to the ground, she spied a black figuring growing in size as it ran toward her. Then, it all went black.

**A/N: And the cliffhanger. And this chapter brings an end to round 3. What did you think? Did you see the betrayal coming? Or did you just think that I was bastardizing those characters and were pleasantly surprised when they revealed their true character? Please let me know what you thought of the chapter. Every review or pm boosts my motivation to continue and make it as good as possible. **

**On a side note, I have begun Beta Reading a story. It is written by Illuminet, and I have to say that it's really good. It's a sekirei crossover, but please go check it out.**

**Till next time,**

**CassiusBrutus Out!**


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